Patent ID: 7046186

Claim:
An IFF apparatus for ground applications, comprising: an encoder for forming an interrogating or response sequence of pulses, and conveying the same to a UWB transmitter; an UWB transmitter for getting said interrogating or response sequence of pulses, forming a corresponding interrogating or response signal of a sequence of UWB pulses, and transmitting the same via a UWB transmitting antenna; a plurality of UWB receiving antennas, disposed away one from the other, for receiving either an interrogating signal or a response signal sent by another IFF apparatus; a decoder for getting from at least one of said UWB receiving antennas received signals, decoding the same, comparing the decoded signal with a bank of pre-stored signals, and determining whether a received signal is an interrogating or response signal; and a processing unit for, upon receipt of a response signal to an interrogating signal sent by the present IFF apparatus, calculating the location of the responding IFF apparatus by: a. determining the range R by the time delays between the interrogating and response signals; b. determining the direction vector to the responding IFF apparatus by evaluating the time differences between arrival of each response pulse to a plurality of receiving antennas; and c. determining the identity of the responding IFF apparatus by checking the received sequence of UWB pulses, assuming that the sequence of each IFF apparatus is unique.