A low-cost receiver design for DSSS location system

In a location system using direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology, high chip rates are desired to increase location accuracy. High chip rates with high over-sampling rates usually require specialized hardware for real-time demodulation of DSSS signals, which increases the cost and complexity of the receiver design. However, for location applications such as "panic button" emergency location services, a low-cost solution is essential. The paper presents a two-stage receiver for a DSSS based location system. The first stage is real-time signal detection with fewer quantizing bits per sample and fewer sampling points per chip; the second stage is signal collection and processing with full information. The receiver system can be implemented in software on a low-cost DSP or other suitable processor and controller. The result is a low-cost receiver design for "burst" DSSS location systems.