Turbo-like synchronization for UWB-IR links

This contribution deals with the Turbo-like noncoherent data-aided (e.g., no blind) synchronization of Ultra-Wideband Impulse-Radio (UWB-IR) terminals operating over broadband channels affected by multipath fading with ¿a priori¿ unknown number of paths. The synchronizer we develop achieves the data-aided joint estimate of the number of paths and their arrival times without requiring any a priori knowledge of the amplitude (module and sign) of the channel-gains. The ultimate performance of the proposed synchronizer is evaluated by considering the number of pilots needed to estimate the channel delays and, more, the Bit Error Rate achievable on the basis of delays and amplitude estimation. The idea behind this approach is to use a turbo-like structure to improve performance so to allow a SNR gain even if channel models are considered in the presence of Inter Pulse Interference (IPI).