Time-of-arrival estimation under impulsive noise for wireless positioning systems

Forward-Backward modified Fractional Lower Order Moment-MUSIC (FB-FLOM-MUSIC), a high resolution spectral estimation algorithm, is proposed for time of arrival (TOA) estimation under a non-Gaussian noise model that accurately represents the impulsive outliers in indoor wireless channels. FB-FLOM-MUSIC is designed for the α-stable noise model, and the first peak of its pseudospectrum is assumed to give the TOA estimate. Simulation results indicate that FLOM-MUSIC clearly outperforms MUSIC in impulsive noise, and that FB-FLOM-MUSIC provides reduced estimation variance at the expense of a slight loss of peak-finding success in moderately dispersed and highly impulsive noise.