Impulse radio receiver and method for finding angular offset of an impulse radio transmitter

An impulse radio receiver comprising:

• a first antenna and a second antenna;
• a first impulse radio coupled to said first antenna;
• a second impulse radio coupled to said second antenna;
• a synchronizing signal generator having an output coupled to said first impulse radio and an output coupled to said second impulse radio for synchronously engaging said first and second impulse radios;
• and
• a processor having an input responsive to said first and said second impulse radios, said processor being enabled to locate the leading edges of impulse radio pulses transmitted by an impulse radio transmitter and received at said first antenna and said second antenna and to approximate a position of the impulse radio transmitter by calculating an angular offset based upon arrival times of the impulse radio pulses.

A method for finding angular offset of an impulse radio transmitter from an impulse radio receiver comprising the steps of:

• receiving from a said impulse radio transmitter an impulse radio signal using an impulse radio receiver, said impulse radio receiver comprising a first antenna coupled to an impulse radio by a first coupling and a second antenna coupled to said impulse radio by a second coupling, wherein said second coupling is of greater length than said first coupling;
• determining an arrival delay of a second pulse with respect to a first pulse, said first pulse being received by said first antenna and said second pulse being received by said second antenna, wherein said step of determining an arrival delay further includes:
• locating said first leading edge of said first pulse;
• tracking said first leading edge;
• correlating over a first interval, said first interval corresponding to the duration of a pulse, said first interval commencing prior to said first leading edge;
• correlating over a second interval, said second interval corresponding to the distance separating said first and said second antennae and occurring after said first pulse;
• and
• approximating an angle of arrival of said pulses with respect to a point between said first antenna and said second antenna based upon said arrival delay.

A method for finding angular offset of an impulse radio transmitter from an impulse radio receiver comprising the steps of:

• receiving from a the impulse radio transmitter an impulse radio signal using an impulse radio receiver, said impulse radio receiver comprising a first antenna coupled to a direct conversion impulse radio and a second antenna coupled to said direct conversion impulse radio that includes at least one scanning correlator which scans at least one interval in a time domain to enable a processor to locate a leading edge of the impulse radio signal received by said first antenna and to locate a leading edge of the impulse radio signal received by said second antenna;
• measuring the arrival time of the leading edge of a first pulse of said impulse radio signal received by said first antenna;
• measuring the arrival time of the leading edge of a first pulse of said impulse radio signal received by said second antenna;
• and
• approximating a position of the impulse radio transmitter by calculating an angular offset based upon arrival times of the impulse radio pulses transmitted by said impulse radio transmitter and received at said first antenna and second antenna.

A method for determining a position of the impulse radio transmitter relative to an impulse radio receiver comprising the steps of:

• receiving from a the impulse radio transmitter an impulse radio signal using the impulse radio receiver, said impulse radio receiver comprising a first antenna coupled to a first impulse radio by a first coupling and a second antenna coupled to a second impulse radio by a second coupling, said first and second impulse radios being synchronously engaged;
• determining an arrival delay of a second pulse with respect to a first pulse, said first pulse being received by said first impulse radio and said second pulse being received by said second impulse radio;
• and
• approximating an angle of arrival of said pulses with respect to a point between said first antenna and said second antenna based upon said arrival delay which enables the determination of the position of the impulse radio transmitter.