Non-Linear UWB Receivers With MLSE Post-Detection

A wireless body area network with an average throughput of 500 kbps is considered based on ultra-wideband (UWB) pulse position modulation. For a long battery autonomy ultra low power consumption is essential. In a FCC compliant ultra low power UWB communication system was presented. By means of a 1% duty cycle at 50 Mbps peak data rate, the power consumption of the system is estimated below 1 mW. To increase Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) robustness as well as for synchronization, a simple post-detection Maximum-Likelihood Sequence Estimator (MLSE) has been presented.