Analysis of TOA estimation using the received signal characteristics in IR UWB ranging with energy detection receiver

The energy detection (ED) receiver is a practical solution for time of arrival (TOA) estimation in ultra wideband (UWB) ranging. The task of TOA estimation under UWB dense multipath channel is to determine the direct path (DP). In the ED receiver, threshold-crossing (TC) is used a lot. However, the threshold should be elaborately chosen, or else the false detection probability will be high. It is difficult to acquire the optimal threshold. In our previous study, we have proposed a novel method to estimate the TOA based on the received signal characteristics, which is effective and robust. However, there is not enough in-depth analysis of the method in the original paper in which the novel method is proposed. In this study, we make a further analysis of the method in several aspects, especially some key parameters which can affect the TOA estimation performance of our method. Some important and interesting conclusions are drawn in this paper. Simulations are carried out to verify these conclusions in the IEEE 802.15.4a channels.