Comparison of pulse and FMCW based radiolocation for indoor tracking systems

In this paper, pulse and FMCW based radiolocation techniques are compared with respect to their usability for an indoor person tracking system. The basic principles and parameters for pulse and FMCW based distance measurements are derived. To allow the calculation of the signal budget, channel models, noise limits and regulatory aspects in terms of transmit power are considered. The accuracy and the coverage range for the two approaches are estimated for ISM and UWB frequency bands. The shown advantages of FMCW with respect to coverage range, range accuracy and system requirements favour this approach for the target application, where a high path loss due to wave propagation through walls and various obstacles must be expected.