Application of layered space-time processing to ultrawideband communication

Ultra-wideband (UWB) signals use extremely short duration pulses (on the order of hundreds of picoseconds) for transferring information. This makes it the technology of choice for high-speed short-range communications in dense multipath channels. In this paper we analyze the usefulness of using Layered Space-Time Processing over a UWB system. VBLAST is one such approach proposed to increase spectral efficiency using multi-input multi-output channels. We propose the exploitation of the large number of resolvable multipath. components in a UWB environment to achieve similar spectral efficiency gains. In this paper we investigate the bit error rate versus spectral efficiency tradeoff applying the VBLAST concept to a UWB system.