A low-power, low data-rate, Ultra-wideband receiver architecture for indoor wireless systems

In this paper, a novel architecture for a low data-rate, low power consumption Impulse Radio (IR) Ultra-Wideband (UWB) receiver is presented in which the received UWB signal is downconverted to a given intermediate frequency (IF) rather than at baseband. This way, the requirement to implement two separate paths for the in-phase and the quadrature components is removed and the power consumption can be reduced. From the IF, the signal is converted to the digital domain by a set of 24 Redundant Signed Digit (RSD) Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) working at the pulse repetition rate. The digitized signal is then correlated with a predefined template prior to be fed to the bit detector. The trade-offs for the selection of the IF are highlighted and the BER performance of the proposed receiver is evaluated using simulations in 802.15.3a multipath channels. The expected power consumption for the implementation of the receiver using a CMOS process is also provided.