Abstract:
A robust method and system for communicating via ultra-wideband (UWB) radio transmission signals over multi-path channels with a very broad range of delay spread. The system includes an optimized non-coherent receiver structure of low complexity and potentially very low power consumption, while offering robust error rate performance for a wide variety of UWB multi-path channel. Use of the proposed transmission signals, referred to as combined PAM-PPM (pulse amplitude modulation-pulse position modulation) signals, together with the disclosed non-coherent receiver method and apparatus are applicable in any UWB communication, identification, sensor or localization system and network, where battery power consumption must be minimized without undue system performance degradation. In particular, timing recovery and synchronization methods and embodiments for bipolar 2PPM (two-slot PPM) signals are disclosed, enabling the construction of particularly robust receivers for systems and networks operating over the ultra-wideband (UWB) radio channel, for example, in the band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to PCT Patent Application No. PCT/IB2004/003798 filed Nov. 18, 2004 and European Patent Application No. 04000004.4 filed Jan. 2, 2004, the entire texts of which are specifically incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a robust receiver scheme for communicating via ultra-wideband (UWB) radio transmission signals over multi-path channels with a very broad range of delay spread. The scheme enables the construction of particularly robust receivers for systems and networks operating over the UWB (or impulse) radio channel, for example, in the frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz.  
         [0003]     Short-range wireless technologies in the wireless local area network (WLAN) space as well as wireless personal and body area networks (WPAN and WBAN) continue to proliferate rapidly. Similarly, wired and wireless as well as mixed networks linking a variety of sensors and/or identification tags are just beginning to be deployed with an unprecedented future market potential. Typically, these conventional systems operate license-free within narrow but designated radio spectrum bands. To mitigate the threat of a future spectrum shortage in view of the rapidly growing user and device population and to enable new applications based on wireless data transmission as well as asset localization and tracking, additional radio spectrum in the form of the ultra-wideband (UWB) radio channel was recently made available for use in the USA in the range 3.1 GHz-10.6 GHz.  
         [0004]     A relevant aspect in the development of future wireless sensor systems using the UWB radio channel is the receiver&#39;s robustness in propagation conditions where severe multi-path conditions prevail. At the same time, however, these communication devices should minimize their power consumption, since often they are powered by batteries.  
         [0005]     Designers of wireless devices (transceivers) for communication, identification or localization systems based on ultra-wideband radio technology (UWB-RT) are faced with the problem of choosing the best possible design approach in the sense that it is cost effective, provides robust performance and operates only on batteries over an extended time, up to several years. A key design criteria in such wireless transceivers are thus the choice of the modulation scheme and the corresponding receiver architecture for a given propagation environment. The problem with (indoor) UWB radio channels is posed by the rather large range of delay spread that can be observed in the channel response, ranging from nearly zero delay spread, in line of sight situations, to large delay spreads of up to 200 ns and more in situations of severe multi-path propagation. A practical receiver should be able to cope with this large range of possible channel conditions.  
         [0006]     There exist two basic schemes from which to derive a receiver&#39;s architecture: a) coherent schemes and b) non-coherent schemes. Well-designed coherent schemes provide good performance but require a rather complex implementation, since often they need to be designed with adaptive features to match all possible channel conditions. Non-coherent receivers have the advantage of being much simpler and thus less complex to build; the compromise is that non-coherent receivers generally suffer from a substantial performance loss in comparison with well-designed coherent receivers.  
         [0007]     Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved non-coherent receiver scheme that achieves a similar or even better performance as, e.g., a coherent RAKE receiver of low order. The non-coherent receiver architecture should provide for robust error rate performance over a large range of multi-path delay spread conditions without need of any adaptation of key system parameters in response to varying channel delay spread or slowly drifting transmitter clock.  
         [0008]     Certain coherent and non-coherent receiver architectures suitable for the UWB radio channel and the reception of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and/or pulse position modulation (PPM) signals have been generally described in the recent literature. For example, in the IEEE publication entitled “On the achievable rates of ultra-wideband PPM with non-coherent detection in multi-path environments,” by Y. Souilmi and R. Knopp, the authors describe theoretical results on achievable data rates of UWB systems using m-ary (m slots per PPM symbol) PPM with non-coherent receivers in multi-path fading environments. However, the paper does not disclose what the receiver structure would be nor does it explain how such a receiver would recover the timing phase of the transmitted PPM signal. Knowledge of the received signal&#39;s timing phase is important to achieve good error rate performance at the receiver&#39;s data detector output.  
         [0009]     The paper published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 20, No. 9, December 2002, and entitled “The effects of timing jitter and tracking on the performance of impulse radio,” by W. M. Lovelace and J. K. Townsend, addresses the timing recovery and jitter problem for orthogonal 4-ary PPM and binary offset PPM for impulse radio, which is commonly understood to be the same as (pulsed) UWB radio. The authors show that coherent receivers with an early-late gate tracker are very sensitive, even to modest timing errors (jitter), mainly due to the very narrow pulses sent by the transmitter. The paper by Lovelace and Townsend assumes that the channel response is known to the receiver or that it can be accurately estimated; however, channel estimation requires complex signal processing.  
         [0010]     Known coherent and non-coherent receivers, typically are based on some automatic gain control (AGC) function, particularly when operating in an interference environment. Moreover, there is a need for non-coherent receivers of low complexity, capable of providing robust operation when receiving transmission signals over a large set of UWB (or impulse) radio channels.  
         [0011]     From the above it follows that there is still a need in the art for an improved non-coherent receiver scheme which, for example, does not rely on any channel response estimation, particularly in the case where the channel is the UWB (or impulse) radio channel.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     The present invention provides a robust scheme for communicating via ultra-wideband (UWB) radio transmission signals over multi-path channels with a very broad range of delay spread. In general, the scheme comprises a non-coherent receiver structure of low complexity and potentially very low power consumption, while offering robust error rate performance for a wide variety of UWB multi-path channels. Use of proposed transmission signals, referred to as combined PAM-PPM (pulse amplitude modulation-pulse position modulation) signals, together with the disclosed non-coherent receiver method and receiver are applicable in any UWB communication, identification, sensor or localization system and network, where battery power consumption should be minimized without undue system performance degradation. In particular, timing phase recovery and synchronization methods and embodiments for bipolar 2PPM (also abbreviated as BP2PPM) signals are disclosed, enabling the construction of particularly robust receivers for systems and networks operating over the ultra-wideband (UWB) radio channel, for example, in the frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz.  
         [0013]     According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for receiving a transmission signal TS on a set of impulse radio (UWB) channels for detecting data, each channel comprising a set of multi-path components and each multi-path component influencing a resulting bit error rate (BER). The method comprises the steps of i.) receiving the transmission signal TS via a first received signal path (also abbreviated as FRSP), ii.) integrating an output of the first received signal path during an integration time T I  to obtain an integrator signal IS, and iii.) processing the integrator signal IS further for detecting the (transmitted) data. The integration time T I  is chosen such as to influence the bit error rate (BER).  
         [0014]     The step of integrating can further comprise the steps of determining a weight function w(t), multiplying the output of the first received signal path with the determined weight function w(t) to obtain a product signal PS, and integrating the product signal PS during the determined integration time T I  to obtain a weighted integrator signal wIS. The weighted integrator signal wIS can then be used for further processing and detecting the data. The determination of the weight function w(t) can comprise a selection of the weight function w(t), e.g. form a table or pre-stored weight function data, or can comprise an adjustment of the weight function w(t) in dependence on the results of channel measurements. By weighting the output signal of the first receiver path with an appropriate weighting signal, the bit error rate (BER) can be further reduced and the sensitivity of the receiver can be increased.  
         [0015]     Moreover, the step of processing can further comprise the steps of sampling the integrator signal IS to obtain a sampled analog signal SAS, quantizing the sampled analog signal SAS to signal samples SS, using the signal samples SS for data detection decisions, and controlling the sampling of the integrator signal IS in dependence on the signal samples SS and using the data detection decisions for timing phase estimation. Sampling at a certain multiple (the multiple depends on the modulation scheme) of the symbol rate is usable to perform data detection. The same samples can be used to perform the fine symbol clock estimation (if desired, also for the coarse symbol clock estimation), the sync-sequence search and the timing tracking.  
         [0016]     The disclosed non-coherent reception scheme provides for robust bit error rate (BER) performance over a large range of multi-path delay spread channel conditions without need of any adaptation of key system operation parameters in response to varying channel delay spread or slowly drifting transmitter clock. Given that the target channel is the UWB radio channel, it is proposed to use a modulation scheme based on combining PAM (pulse amplitude modulation) and PPM (pulse position modulation); in particular, in a preferred embodiment it is proposed to use bipolar 2PPM (BP2PPM) signals, where the polarity of the pulses does not carry any information but is used to achieve a whitened and DC-free (DC=“direct current”=zero frequency) transmission spectrum. The transmission signal TS can be selected to be a combined PAM-PPM transmission signal, preferably combined as a BP2PPM signal. 2PPM allows transmitting of 1 bit per symbol. Binary PAM in combination with 2PPM allows to choose the sign of the pulse at random and thus to obtain a transmit signal with a power spectral density that contains no spectral lines. The proposed non-coherent receiving methods and embodiments are particularly well suited for transmission signals received over UWB radio channels.  
         [0017]     It is also possible to use two signal samples SS per bipolar 2PPM symbol in order to provide maximum-likelihood decisions for the data detection decisions. This means two samples are used per symbol, which allows for designing an improved data detector that provides a low bit error rate (BER), while keeping the transceiver architecture simple.  
         [0018]     According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a receiver for receiving a transmission signal TS on a set of impulse radio (UWB) channels for detecting data, each channel comprising a set of multi-path components and each multi-path component influencing a resulting bit error rate (BER). The receiver comprises a first received signal path (previously also abbreviated as FRSP) for receiving the transmission signal TS, an integrator for integrating an output of the first received signal path during an integration time T I  to obtain an integrator signal IS, and a further processing unit for processing the integrator signal IS further for detecting data, the integration time T I  of the integrator being chosen such as to influence the bit error rate (BER). The provided receiver is a non-coherent receiver and has the advantage that any channel estimation can be omitted for this non-coherent receiver in contrast to coherent receivers. With an appropriate choice of the integration time T I , most of the received signal energy is captured by the integrator, thus, almost the entire multi-path diversity offered by the channel can be exploited efficiently. The recovered symbol clock&#39;s timing phase estimation error is allowed to be significantly higher for this non-coherent receiver compared to coherent receivers.  
         [0019]     In an embodiment, the integrator is a weighting integrator that comprises a generator for providing a weight function w(t), a multiplier for multiplying the output of the first received signal path with the weight function w(t) to obtain a product signal PS, and an integrator for integrating the product signal PS during the integration time T I  to obtain a weighted integrator signal wIS. Weighting the output signal of the first received signal path with the weight function w(t) leads to a reduced bit error rate (BER) of the receiver or to an increased sensitivity of the receiver.  
         [0020]     The further processing unit can comprise a sampler for sampling the weighted integrator signal wIS to a sampled analog signal SAS, a quantizier for quantizing the sampled analog signal SAS to signal samples SS, a data detector for data detection decisions, and a timing unit for controlling the sampling in dependence on the signal samples SS and the data detection decisions for timing phase estimation.  
         [0021]     The timing unit can further comprise a timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit that includes a coarse symbol clock estimation unit, a fine symbol clock estimation unit, and a synchronization sequence search unit. Splitting the symbol clock timing phase estimation step into coarse and fine symbol clock estimation steps allows, depending on the implementation, to reduce preamble length and to improve the estimation quality.  
         [0022]     Furthermore, the timing unit can further comprise a timing tracking unit that includes an early-zero-late time generator or an early-late time generator. In this disclosure, the proposed non-coherent receiver includes generally a modified early-late gate timing scheme in the form of a three-state adjustment scheme, hereafter called early-zero-late (EZL) timing scheme. In some embodiments it might be preferable that the zero state is not active, reducing it to the classic early-late scheme. The combination of this scheme with efficient non-coherent data detection leads to an UWB radio transmission system that achieves a robust performance over a wide range of channel conditions (delay spread), even in the presence of some timing phase errors due to jitter and/or frequency offset between transmitter and receiver time bases (symbol clocks). The mentioned paper by Lovelace and Townsend assumes that the channel response is known to the receiver or that it can be accurately estimated; however, channel estimation requires complex signal processing. The proposed non-coherent receiver does not rely on any channel response estimation.  
         [0023]     Preferably, the timing tracking unit comprises a decision-directed sampling time correction unit which allows for improving the performance of timing-tracking algorithms, resulting either in a higher receiver sensitivity or a higher tolerance against oscillator frequency (transmitter and/or receiver symbol clock) imprecision.  
         [0024]     The timing unit can comprise an integrator/sampler control unit in combination with a state machine, which allows a precise controlling of a) the reset signal and the weight select signal provided to the integrator and b) the sampling signal provided to the sampler.  
         [0025]     Moreover, the received transmission signal TS can be processed by several integrators arranged as a set of parallel operating integrators. Then, each integrator integrates their respective input signals during a predetermined integration time or an adjustable integration time. Each integrator can also perform as a weighting integrator. In other words, the integration of the signal obtained from the first received signal path by a single integrator or weighting integrator is expandable to include several such integrators arranged as a set of parallel operating integrators, each integrator integrating their respective input signals during the predetermined or adjustable integration time. Such a parallel integrator arrangement offers additional advantages, e.g. less required time delay in the timing tracking unit (i.e. an integer n of an delay element of an leaky integrator can be chosen to be unity); more precise information about the timing error TE provided by the decision-directed sampling time correction unit is obtainable, thereby increasing the accuracy of the timing error TE estimate; improved robustness against clock frequency offset between transmitter symbol clock and receiver symbol clock is achievable; and a shorter preamble sequence can be used for obtaining a faster acquisition time.  
         [0026]     The integration time T 1 , as determinable by a sampler control unit, can be made adjustable in response to the prevailing channel conditions, particularly in response to the channel&#39;s actual power delay profile as measured at the output of the first received signal path. Thus, if a delay element of duration T Ia  is made adjustable, then the receiver&#39;s achievable bit error rate (BER) can also be improved in dependence of the prevailing channel&#39;s power delay profile and/or the receiver&#39;s signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Note that the measured power delay profile of a channel can also be used to derive an optimal weight function w(t) which can be incorporated in the weighting integrator.  
         [0027]     According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for transmitting data via a set of impulse radio (UWB) channels. The system comprises a transmitter for sending the data as a combined PAM-PPM signal, and the mentioned receiver for receiving and detecting the data.  
         [0028]     Further advantages of the invention are listed below:  
         [0029]     Use of the proposed transmission signals, referred to as combined PAM-PPM (pulse amplitude modulation-pulse position modulation) signals, together with the disclosed non-coherent receiver method and apparatus are applicable in any UWB radio communication, identification, sensor or localization system and network, where battery power consumption should be minimized without undue system performance degradation.  
         [0030]     In particular, ways for integration of signals provided by a first received signal path and for timing recovery and synchronization of bipolar 2PPM (bipolar two-slot PPM, also abbreviated as BP2PPM) signals are disclosed, enabling the construction of particularly robust receivers for systems and networks operating over a broad set of ultra-wideband (UWB) radio channels, for example, UWB channels in the frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz.  
         [0031]     Non-coherent receivers have the advantage of being much simpler and thus less complex to build; the compromise is that non-coherent receivers generally suffer from some performance loss in comparison with well-designed coherent receivers. The non-coherent receiver scheme as disclosed in here enable to reduce such performance losses; this disclosure describes a non-coherent receiver that achieves a similar performance as a coherent RAKE receiver of low order.  
         [0032]     In a preferred embodiment the receiver&#39;s performance has been shown to be robust in the presence of timing phase errors or clock frequency offsets up to 20 ppm (parts per million), particularly in the case where the detector is supplied with two samples per bipolar 2PPM symbol to provide (optimal) maximum-likelihood decisions. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0033]     Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below, by way of example only, with reference to the following schematic drawings.  
         [0034]      FIG. 1  shows a basic scenario for transmitting data via a set of radio channels.  
         [0035]      FIG. 2  shows a preferred embodiment of a non-coherent receiver structure for the reception of combined PAM-PPM signals.  
         [0036]      FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of a data detector comprising a delay element, an adder and a threshold detector.  
         [0037]      FIG. 4  shows a timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit.  
         [0038]      FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of a timing tracking unit.  
         [0039]      FIG. 6  shows a basic diagram of a state machine that is part of an integrator/sampler control unit.  
         [0040]      FIG. 7   a  shows a basic symbol sampler control unit as included in the integrator/sampler control unit.  
         [0041]      FIG. 7   b  shows the general relation between the various signals provided by the basic symbol sampler control unit.  
         [0042]      FIG. 8   a  shows an embodiment of an integrator as a weighting integrator.  
         [0043]      FIG. 8   b  indicates, by way of an example UWB radio channel, that the optimal integration time T I  also depends on the prevailing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver. 
     
    
       [0044]     The drawings are provided for illustrative purpose only and do not necessarily represent practical examples of the present invention to scale.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0045]     The present invention will be described with reference to embodiments of the invention. The embodiments below do not limit the present invention described in claims and all the combinations of components described in the embodiments are not necessary for means to solve the invention.  
         [0046]     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.  
         [0047]     Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to the Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.  
         [0048]     Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).  
         [0049]     The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.  
         [0050]     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.  
         [0051]     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.  
         [0052]     The embodiments are described with the focus put on applications to wireless systems, using impulse radio which is commonly understood to be the same as (pulsed) ultra-wideband (UWB) radio.  
         [0053]      FIG. 1  shows a basic scenario for a system for transmitting data via a set of radio channels, i.e. a set of impulse radio (UWB) channels  3 . For the sake of simplicity, only one radio channel  3  is indicated. The figure illustrates on the one hand a transmitter  1  with a transmit antenna  9  and on the other hand a non-coherent receiver  2  with a reception antenna  10 . The indicated radio channel  3  comprises a set of multi-path components  3   a,    3   b,  where a transmission signal TS is received at the non-coherent receiver  2  via one multi-path component  3   a  directly and is received via another multi-path component  3   b  that includes a reflection on a wall  5 . In general, each radio channel  3  is characterized by a large number of the multi-path components  3   a,    3   b  that can be spread over a wide range of time intervals (delay spread). Each multi-path component influences a resulting bit error rate (BER) in the non-coherent receiver  2 . The further description refers in more detail to the non-coherent receiver  2 , hereafter also referred to as receiver  2 . The same reference numbers and signs are used within the description to denote the same parts or the like.  
         [0054]      FIG. 2  shows a non-coherent receiver structure of the receiver  2  for the reception of combined PAM-PPM signals. The receiver  2  comprises a first received signal path (FRSP)  10 - 50 , a second received signal path (SRSP)  60 - 90  and a timing &amp; control unit  100 , also referred to as timing unit  100 . The first received signal path includes in a signal processing chain the reception antenna  10  that receives the transmission signal TS, a limiter  20  that limits its output signal in terms of its amplitude, a low noise amplifier (LNA)  30 , a bandpass filter  40  that passes the received transmission signal TS, and a squarer  50 . The second received signal path comprises an integrator  60 , a sampler  70 , a quantizer (analog-to-digital converter)  80 , and a data detector  90 . The timing unit  100  relates to the components comprised in the second received signal path in that it receives signals from such components  80 ,  90  or provides signals to such components  60 ,  70 . The sampler  70 , the quantizer  80 , the data detector  90 , and the timing unit  100  are herein also referred to as further processing unit  99 .  
         [0055]     The integrator  60  integrates an output of the first received signal path during an integration time T I  to obtain an integrator signal IS or a weighted integrator signal wIS. The signals are indicated in the figure respectively.  
         [0056]     The sampler  70  samples the integrator signal IS or the weighted integrator signal wIS to provide a sampled analog signal SAS. The quantiziser  80  quantizes the sampled analog signal SAS to obtain signal samples SS which are then used by the data detector  90  for data detection decisions.  
         [0057]     The timing &amp; control unit  100  comprises a timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit  200 , a timing tracking unit  300 , and an integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400  that includes the functionality of a state machine. The timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit  200  is also referred to as acquisition &amp; synchronization unit  200 . In general the timing unit  100  controls the sampling in dependence on the signal samples SS and the data detection decisions for obtaining a timing phase estimate. The timing unit  100  outputs a “Reset” and “Weight Select” signal, which are both used to control the integrator  60 , and further outputs a “Sample” signal that is used by the sampler  70  for precise sampling of the integrator signal IS or the weighted integrator signal wIS.  
         [0058]     The timing &amp; control unit  100  provides the the “Reset” signal, the “Sample” signal, and the “Weight Select” signal to the second received signal path (SRSP). The “Weight Select” signal is preferably issued at the beginning of a reception cycle, e.g. before a new data packet is received; however, in general, the “Weight Select” signal can be activated when the receiver processes some transmission signal TS. When the “Reset” signal changes state, e.g. from some low (zero) amplitude value to a high amplitude value, then the integrator&#39;s  60  output is set to zero. From the time instant where the integrator&#39;s  60  output is set to zero, the timing unit  100  provides the “Sample” signal after the integration time T I  to the sampler  70 , which generates a new sampled analog signal SAS. In a preferred embodiment two such samples are generated within each symbol interval T I .  FIG. 7   b  shows further details of the general relation between the signals provided by within the timing &amp; control unit  100 . Further shown in  FIG. 7   b  is the receiver&#39;s recovered symbol clock (RSC) signal, which is controlled by the timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit  200  during preamble and synchronization sequence reception and is further controlled by the timing tracking unit  300  during data signal reception. The timing &amp; control unit  100  provides also the user data estimates {âk}, which are delivered by the data detector  90  via the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 .  
         [0059]      FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of the data detector  90  comprising here a delay element  91 , an adder  92  and a threshold detector  93 . The data detector  90  receives the signal samples SS from the quantizer  80  and feeds them to the adder  92  and the delay element  91 . Adder  92  subtracts the output provided by the delay element  91  from the signal sample SS and provides the result, obtainable at its output, to the threshold detector  93  for the generation of the data estimates {ãk}. Therefore, the threshold detector  93  provides data estimates based on the difference between a first and a second signal sample SS generated during the same received symbol interval. In a preferred embodiment the transmitted and thus received symbols are bipolar 2PPM (BP2PPM) symbols.  
         [0060]      FIG. 4  shows the timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit  200  comprising a course symbol clock estimation unit  210  that is also referred to as course sampling time estimation unit  210 , a fine symbol clock estimation unit  220  that is also referred to as fine sampling time estimation unit  220 , a synchronization sequence search unit  230  that is also referred to as sync search unit  230 , and the sync sequence (storage) unit  240 .  
         [0061]     Within the timing acquisition &amp; data synchronization unit  200  the signal samples SS provided by the quantizer  80  are fed to both the course symbol clock estimation unit  210  and fine symbol clock estimation unit  220 , where they are used to generate the recovered symbol clock RSC in conjunction with the signal detection threshold γ c . The clock recovery mechanism used by course symbol clock estimation unit  210  can be based on any suitable algorithm know within the art. The fine symbol clock estimation unit  220  makes preferably use of an early-zero-late (EZL) sampling time generator  310 .  
         [0062]     The sync search unit  230  comprises a sync sequence detector that can be a soft detector or a hard detector. A soft detector adds the amplitudes at the sampling instances; when the resulting sum exceeds a certain threshold value then the sync sequence is assumed to be found. A difficulty of this method is to derive the optimum (adaptive) threshold value, which depends on the amplitude of the received signal and therefore demands estimation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).  
         [0063]     In a preferred embodiment, hard detection for the sync sequence search is used based on a symbol-wise detection method to produce a resulting detected symbol sequence; a determined sync sequence {S n } provided by the sync sequence (storage) unit  240  is then searched in this detected symbol sequence. As symbol detection errors may occur, the sequence is assumed to be found as soon as a certain number of symbols correspond to symbols determined by the sync sequence. As a reference, the determined sync sequence is stored in the sync sequence (storage) unit  240  and recalled as needed by the sync search unit  230 . This method is in principle less reliable than the soft detection method; however, this drawback can be compensated by elongating the sync sequence, if desired. The advantage of this scheme over the soft detection method is that no adaptive threshold value is needed. The required length of the sync sequence can be determined by the maximum number of tolerated erroneously detected symbols in the detected sync sequence. The sync sequence should be designed such that preceding “0” data symbols (i.e. preamble symbols) will correlate the least possible with any shifted version of the sync sequence. When the sync sequence is detected, the sampling instants for the first data packet symbol are determined. A preferable sync sequence is for example the binary sequence {S n }={1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1} consisting of ten data symbols. When preceding this sequence with “0” data symbols, the left half of its autocorrelation function is obtained as {. . . , 3, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 4, 4, 5, 10}, where the integer values indicate the number of matching data symbols (bits). A preferred required minimal number of matching bits is eight as determined by the sequence detection threshold γ s  provided to the sync search unit  230 ; hence, two symbol (bit) errors in the received sync sequence can be tolerated, since the sequence is detected if no more than two bits within the ten bit sequence are erroneous. A false alarm occurs if at least three of five non-matching bits are erroneous or if four out of six non-matching bits are erroneous.  
         [0064]      FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of the timing tracking unit  300  that comprises an early-zero-late (EZL) sampling time generator  310 , a decision-directed sampling time correction unit  320 , and a leaky integrator filter  330 . The decision-directed sampling time correction unit  320  provides at its output an estimate of the sampling time error, hereafter also called timing error (TE), based on the data estimates provided by the data detector  90  and the sampled signal SS provided by the quantizer  80 . The leaky integrator filter  330  determines by means of a leaky averaging process a smoothed version of the sampling time error, hereafter denoted by SE. The smoothed error signal SE is simultaneously fed to the input of a delay element  331  of duration nT s  that outputs a delayed smoothed error signal, hereafter abbreviated as dSE; the length of the delay time nT s , where n≧1 is and commonly understood to be an integer value, may vary for different receiver embodiments. The leaky integrator filter  330  computes the smoothed sampling time error SE according to the equation: SE=[(1-α)dSE+αTE], where a is a determined positive number less than unity. The resulting smoothed timing error SE is fed to the early-late-zero time generator  310  which outputs the early-zero-late signal, herein also abbreviated as EZL signal, to control the recovered symbol clock (RSC) signal provided by a symbol clock generator comprised within the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 .  
         [0065]      FIG. 6  shows a basic diagram of the state machine implemented within the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 . In this figure, the ellipses designate specific states of the state machine and the connecting arrows define the possible state transitions, where the connecting arrows are labeled with a respective event that will drive the state machine into the corresponding next state. In particular, the desired state transition sequence during the reception of a data packet (transmission signal TS) corresponds to the following sequence in time:  
         [0066]     A start (reset) signal drives the state machine into the state “course symbol clock estimation &amp; signal detection,” where it waits (“signal not found”) for the preamble sent at the beginning of a data packet and where the course symbol clock estimation is generated;  
         [0067]     after the “signal (preamble) found” event has occurred, the state machine enters the state “fine symbol clock estimation” and it remains there until the symbol clock is successfully recovered;  
         [0068]     the even “symbol clock recovered” forwards the state machine to the state “sync sequence search” where it remains until the event “sync sequence found” has occurred;  
         [0069]     the state machine then enters the state “data detection &amp; timing tracking” and remains there until the entire packet has been received (“packet received”);  
         [0070]     after this latter event, the state machine enters again the start state (“course symbol clock estimation &amp; signal detection”), waiting for the preamble signal of the next data packet to occur.  
         [0071]     Note that all other events (“signal not found”; “signal lost”; “sync sequence not found”; and “packet lost”) drive the state machine into the “course symbol clock estimation &amp; signal detection” state, thereby enabling the receiver to search for a new signal.  
         [0072]      FIG. 7   a  shows a symbol sampler control unit  450 , hereafter also called symbol sampler  450 , as included within the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 . The symbol sampler unit  450  comprises a symbol delay (T I ) element  452  and an adder unit  451  (alternatively, the function of the adder unit  451  could also be obtained from a logic OR gate with two logic signal inputs in the form of the recovered symbol clock RSC and its delayed version obtained at the output of delay element  452 ). The adder&#39;s output defines the “Reset” signal that is fed to the integrator  60 . The adder&#39;s output is further connected to a delay element  453 , providing a duration corresponding to the integration time T I . The output of the delay element  453  provides the required “Sample” signal that controls the sampler  70 . The sampler&#39;s input is either the integrator signal IS, supplied by integrator  60 , or the weighted integrator signal wIS, provided by a weighted integrator  60 .  FIG. 7   b  shows in more detail the general relation between the various signals provided by the symbol sampler control unit  450 . In particular,  FIG. 7   a  illustrates that both the “Reset” signal and the “Sample” signal derive from the recovered symbol clock (RSC) signal provided by a symbol clock generator located within the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 , where the phase of the symbol clock signal is adjustable as used by an early-zero-late (EZL) timing phase adjustment scheme.  
         [0073]      FIG. 7   b  further demonstrates that within each symbol interval of duration T s , there are two “Reset” signal pulses and two “Sample” signal pulses. As indicated in the figure, the time differences between the positive transitions of the “Reset” pulses and the positive transitions of the “Sample” pulses are identical with the integration time T I . Provided that the integration time T I  is chosen to be smaller than the radio channel&#39;s multi-path delay spread, it will be possible to determine a numerical value for T I  that minimizes the receiver&#39;s bit error rate (BER).  
         [0074]     In a further embodiment of the symbol sampler control unit  450  shown in  FIG. 7a , either the symbol delay element  452  of duration Δ T , e.g. as determined by the transmitter  1  based on channel state feedback from the receiver  2 , or the delay element  453  of duration T I  or both delay elements  452 ,  453  can be made adjustable in response to the prevailing channel conditions. For example, if the delay element  453  of duration T I  is made adjustable, then the receiver&#39;s achievable BER can be improved in dependence of the prevailing channel delay spread and/or the receiver&#39;s signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Note also in  FIG. 7b  that it is advantageous to choose the time interval Δ T  as well as the time interval (T s −Δ T ) larger than the radio channel&#39;s multi-path delay spread; these conditions will help to avoid intersymbol interference (ISI) between adjacent symbols and thus reduce the receiver&#39;s achievable BER.  
         [0075]      FIG. 8   a  shows an embodiment of the integrator  60  as a weighting integrator  60 . The weighting integrator  60  comprises a weighting function generator  620 , also referred to as generator  620 , providing a determined weight function w(t). The integrator  60  further comprises a multiplier  610  and a weight integrator unit  630  operating under an “integrate-and-dump” scheme. In operation, the multiplier  610  multiplies the output of the first received signal path  10 - 50  with the determined weight function w(t), in the figure labeled as a weight signal wS, to obtain a product signal PS. Upon receiving a “Reset” impulse, the weight integrator  630  then integrates the product signal PS during the integration time T I  to obtain a weighted integrator signal wIS that is provided to the sampler  70 . The integration time T I  is controlled via the “Reset” signal that is provided by the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400 . The “Weight Select” signal also provided by the integrator/sampler control &amp; state machine unit  400  is used to select the weight signal wS supplied by the weight function generator  620 . The weight function generator  620  can typically store in memory a number of weight functions w(t). For example, to cover a wide range of possible channel delay profiles, such as defined by the IEEE 802.15.3a channel modeling group for the UWB radio channels CM 1  to CM 4 , a number of representative channel power delay profiles (PDPs) could be stored in memory, whereby any particular weight function can be recalled by the weighting function generator  620 . Such a scheme could be made adaptive to provide the best possible match between the power delay profile and the prevailing power delay profile.  
         [0076]     Alternatively, the weight function w(t) could be directly determined by the receiver  2  based on measurements performed in the receiver  2  characterizing the channel&#39;s power delay profile as measured at the out put of the first received signal path (FRSP)  10 - 50 . The measured channel&#39;s power delay profile provides information on the actual channel state in terms of the multi-path components&#39; amplitudes and delay times; this information can be used to construct an optimally matched weight function w(t) for use in the weighting integrator  60 . Matching the weight function w(t) to the channel&#39;s prevailing power delay profile enables the receiver  2  to achieve an improved bit error rate performance (BER).  
         [0077]     Note that the integration time T I , which is a key characteristic of the weight integrator unit  630 , can be a fixed value designed for robust receiver operation over a wide range of channel delay spreads or it can be made adjustable, for example as a function of the receiver&#39;s SNR as indicated in  FIG. 8   a.    
         [0078]     In  FIG. 8   a  it is shown that the achievable minimal bit error rate (BER) is a function of both the integration time T I  and the reciver&#39;s SNR (as indicated by the “trend line”). In this example, the BER applies to a bipolar 2PPM transmission signal TS, propagating over the 5 th  realization of the IEEE UWB radio channel model CM 4 , and receiving it in the non-coherent receiver as disclosed herein.  
         [0079]     It should be noted that the method of the present invention may be embedded in a program product, which includes all features for implementing the method of the present invention and can implement the method when it is loaded in a machine system.  
         [0080]     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.  
         [0081]     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.  
         [0082]     The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.  
         [0083]     Having thus described the invention of the present application in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.