Wireless digital communication method for the communication between two electronic devices (3, 16) of an industrial apparatus (1), including—encoding each bit of information by a respective sequence of a certain number (N) of pulses (25) that alternate with a corresponding number (N−1) of silence intervals (26), each pulse having a pulse duration (TI) shorter than or equal to ns and said silence intervals having respective silence durations (TSj) longer than or equal to 30 ns—transmitting, by a first electronic device, a radio signal (RS) comprising a plurality of radio pulses corresponding to the sequence of pulses without modulating any radio carrier, and—receiving and decoding, by the other electronic device, said radio signal to obtain said bit of information. The method may include additional steps for exchanging information between the electronic devices according to which one of the electronic devices, while in a stand-by state, transmits a request message, waits for a reply message from the other electronic device (if and when some conditions are complied with) and, upon receiving the reply message, switches to an operating state in which the two electronic devices are communicatively coupled to each other.

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.

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.

An ultra-wideband (“UWB”) communication system comprising a transmitter and a receiver. In one embodiment, the symbol mapper circuit in the transmitter is adapted, in a first mode, to develop symbols having the number of pulses as currently defined in the 4z Standard; and, in a second mode, to develop symbols having fewer pulses than as currently defined in the 4z Standard. In an optional third mode, each data bit is mapped to a single pulse.

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.

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.

Disclosed is a modulation method for modulating n-bit data (n=p+q+r). The modulation method includes forming a time difference between a data impulse and a sync impulse to correspond to p-bit data, modulating the amplitude of the sync impulse to correspond to q-bit data and modulating the amplitude of the data impulse to correspond to r-bit data, and combining the sync impulse and the data impulse. As an example, n may be equal to p+q+r.

UWB ranging methods and apparatus are disclosed. The method comprises a ranging communication with a plurality of responder devices, the ranging communication comprising: transmitting, by an initiator device, a polling signal in a time slot; receiving a respective response from each of the plurality of responder devices, overlapping and in a next time slot, each response comprising: synchronization bits, and a frame comprising Start of Frame Delimiter, and a Scrambled Timestamp Sequence; wherein the STS comprises a sequence of segments each preceded by a respective guard interval, wherein a specific one of the segments comprises data derived from a ranging key and a responder-identifier each unique to the respective responder among the plurality of responders, wherein a sequence-number of the specific segment is unique to the respective response, and wherein a remainder of the segments each comprise the same data derived from a predetermined common key and predetermined common data.

UWB ranging methods and apparatus are disclosed. The method comprises a ranging communication with a plurality of responder devices, the ranging communication comprising: transmitting, by an initiator device, a polling signal in a time slot; receiving a respective response from each of the plurality of responder devices, overlapping and in a next time slot, each response comprising: synchronization bits, and a frame comprising Start of Frame Delimiter, and a Scrambled Timestamp Sequence; wherein the STS comprises a sequence of segments each preceded by a respective guard interval, wherein a specific one of the segments comprises data derived from a ranging key and a responder-identifier each unique to the respective responder among the plurality of responders, wherein a sequence-number of the specific segment is unique to the respective response, and wherein a remainder of the segments each comprise the same data derived from a predetermined common key and predetermined common data.

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology transmits digital data as modulated coded impulses over a very wide frequency spectrum with very low power over a short distance. Accordingly, the inventors have established UWB devices which accommodate and adapt to inaccuracies, errors, or issues within the implemented electronics, hardware, firmware, and software. Beneficially, UWB receivers may accommodate offsets in absolute frequency between their frequency source and the transmitter, accommodate drift arising from phase locked loop and/or from relative clock frequency offsets of the remote transmitter and local receiver. UWB devices may also employ modulation coding schemes offering increased efficiency with respect to power, data bits per pulse transmitted, and enabled operation at higher output power whilst complying with regulatory emission requirements. Further, UWB devices may support a ranging function with range/accuracy not limited to the low frequency master clock employed within these devices enabling operation with ultra-low power consumption.