A Time-Based Angle-of-Arrival Sensor Using CMOS IR-UWB Transceivers

In this paper, we present a time-based angle-of-arrival (AoA) sensor using the impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) technology. Arrival angles are estimated using the time difference of the received signal, which is transmitted from a target between two IR-UWB receivers. The most salient feature of this system is high precision angle estimation, which is possible with simple and compact hardware, because its operation is based on a time-based approach. The receiver in the AoA sensor consumes 50 mA at 1.2 V supply voltage and the sensitivity is -61 dBm. The measurement result shows that angle error is lower than ±1°.

I. Introduction

Wireless localizationtechnologies have recently come under the spotlight. Wireless localization has a variety of application fields, such as medical devices, robotics, industries, public safety, logistics, and transport system [1]–[4]. As illustrated in Fig. 1, there are four major types of wireless localization technology [5]–[17]: received signal strength (RSS), time of arrival (ToA), time difference of arrival (TDoA), and angle of arrival (AoA) methods. Fig. 1.

Localization method. (a) Received signal strength. (RSS) (b) Time-of-arrival (ToA). (c) Time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA). (d) Angle-of-arrival (AoA).