Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology exploits modulated coded impulses over a wide frequency spectrum with very low power over a short distance for digital data transmission. Today's leading edge modulated sinusoidal wave wireless communication standards and systems achieve power efficiencies of 50 nJ/bit employing narrowband signaling schemes and traditional RF transceiver architectures. However, such designs severely limit the achievable energy efficiency, especially at lower data rates such as below 1 Mbps. Further, it is important that peak power consumption is supportable by common battery or energy harvesting technologies and long term power consumption neither leads to limited battery lifetimes or an inability for alternate energy sources to sustain them. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for next generation applications to exploit inventive transceiver structures and communication schemes in order to achieve the sub nJ per bit energy efficiencies required by next generation applications.

In ultra-wideband or impulse radio terahertz wireless communication, the atmosphere reshapes terahertz pulses via group delay dispersion (GDD). Without correction, this can degrade the achievable data transmission rate. An apparatus comprising a stratified structure having a front end and a back end is disclosed. The structure comprises a plurality of adjacent layers of differing refractive indices, wherein each layer has a refractive index different from an immediately adjacent layer. The structure further includes a backing layer at the back end. The structure defines a GDD, which can be adjusted, and the structure is configured to introduce the GDD to a received terahertz signal and thereby produce a compensated terahertz signal when the received terahertz signal is reflected by the structure. The GDD of the structure is configured to substantially cancel out the GDD effects caused by the atmosphere on the terahertz signal.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver configured to communicate with an external communication device; a processing unit configured to switch the UWB transceiver between different transceiver modes of operation while the UWB transceiver receives or transmits a data frame; wherein the different transceiver modes of operation include a ranging mode, an angle-of-arrival (AoA) mode and/or a radar mode. In accordance with a second aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding method of operating a communication device is conceived. In accordance with a third aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding computer program is provided.

A frequency synthesis device, including: a first generator configured to generate a periodical signal with a frequency f.sub.1; a second generator, coupled to the first generator and generating from the signal with a frequency f.sub.1 a signal S.sub.G corresponding to a train of oscillations with a frequency substantially equal to N.Math.f.sub.1, with a duration lower than T.sub.1=1/f.sub.1 and periodically repeated at the frequency f.sub.1; a third generator generating, from the signal S.sub.G, m periodical signals S.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CH1 to S.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CHm with frequency spectra each include a main line with a frequency f.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CHi corresponding to an integer multiple of f.sub.1, with 1≦i≦m, the third generator operating as a band-pass filter applied to the signal S.sub.G and discarding from the frequency spectra of each of the periodical signals S.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CH1 to S.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CHm lines other than the main line with a frequency f.sub.LO.sub._.sub.CHi.

Embodiments are generally directed to determination of mobile display position and orientation using micropower impulse radar. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a display to present images; radar components to generate radar signal pulses and to generate distance data based on received return signals; radar antennae to transmit the radar signal pulses and to receive the return signals; and a processor to process signals and data, wherein the processor is to: process the return signals received by the radar antennae to determine a position and orientation of the display with respect to real objects in an environment and to determine a position of a vantage point of a user of the apparatus, and generate an augmented image including rendering a virtual object and superimposing the virtual object on an image including one or more real objects, the rendering of the virtual image being based at least in part on the determined position and orientation of the display and the determined vantage point of the user of the apparatus.

Embodiments are generally directed to determination of mobile display position and orientation using micropower impulse radar. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a display to present images; radar components to generate radar signal pulses and to generate distance data based on received return signals; radar antennae to transmit the radar signal pulses and to receive the return signals; and a processor to process signals and data, wherein the processor is to: process the return signals received by the radar antennae to determine a position and orientation of the display with respect to real objects in an environment and to determine a position of a vantage point of a user of the apparatus, and generate an augmented image including rendering a virtual object and superimposing the virtual object on an image including one or more real objects, the rendering of the virtual image being based at least in part on the determined position and orientation of the display and the determined vantage point of the user of the apparatus.

An impulse radio (IR) ultra-wide band (UWB) transceiver adapted for a rake receiver is provided herein. This may be implemented as follows: on the transmitter side, the input data is converted to N-parallel streams having different delays, each stream is transmitted by an impulse radio signal with defined different carrier frequency. On the receiver side, the multicarrier RF signal is converted into base band signal, emulating multipath channels, so that rake receiver technique is used for an optimal demodulation of the received signal.

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology exploits modulated coded impulses over a wide frequency spectrum with very low power over a short distance for digital data transmission. Today's leading edge modulated sinusoidal wave wireless communication standards and systems achieve power efficiencies of 50 nJ/bit employing narrowband signaling schemes and traditional RF transceiver architectures. However, such designs severely limit the achievable energy efficiency, especially at lower data rates such as below 1 Mbps. Further, it is important that peak power consumption is supportable by common battery or energy harvesting technologies and long term power consumption neither leads to limited battery lifetimes or an inability for alternate energy sources to sustain them. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for next generation applications to exploit inventive transceiver structures and communication schemes in order to achieve the sub nJ per bit energy efficiencies required by next generation applications.

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology exploits modulated coded impulses over a wide frequency spectrum with very low power over a short distance for digital data transmission. Today's leading edge modulated sinusoidal wave wireless communication standards and systems achieve power efficiencies of 50 nJ/bit employing narrowband signaling schemes and traditional RF transceiver architectures. However, such designs severely limit the achievable energy efficiency, especially at lower data rates such as below 1 Mbps. Further, it is important that peak power consumption is supportable by common battery or energy harvesting technologies and long term power consumption neither leads to limited battery lifetimes or an inability for alternate energy sources to sustain them. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for next generation applications to exploit inventive transceiver structures and communication schemes in order to achieve the sub nJ per bit energy efficiencies required by next generation applications.

A method is provided for radar ranging using an IR-UWB radar transceiver. The range is determined by measuring a time required by a transmitted pulse to be reflected by an object and returned to the transceiver. The method includes transmitting a ranging signal having a predetermined sequence of positive and negative pulses using a transmitter of the transceiver. A receiver of the transceiver receives a signal having a reflected portion and a feedthrough portion. In the method, the receiver cancels the feedthrough portion using a delayed pulse polarity signal such that when the delayed pulse polarity signal is multiplied and accumulated with the received signal, the feedthrough portion is canceled, and the reflected portion is amplified. In another embodiment, a transceiver is provided that cancels the feedthrough portion while amplifying the reflected portion. Cancelling the feedthrough portion allows short-range operation by removing a blind range of the transceiver.