An introduction to UWB communication systems

Ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication is a revolutionary technology for transmitting large amounts of digital data over a wide frequency spectrum using short-pulse, low powered radio signals. UWB commonly refers to a signal or system that either has a large relative bandwidth (BW) that exceeds 20% or a large absolute bandwidth of more than 500 MHz. A 14 February 2002 report and order by the federal communications commission (FCC) authorizes the unlicensed use of UWB in 3.1--10.6 GHz. This is intended to provide an efficient use of scarce radio bandwidth while enabling both high data rate personal area network (PAN) wireless connectivity and longer-range, low data rate applications as well as radar and imaging systems.