Scatterer detection by successive cancellation for UWB - method and experimental verification

We present a new high delay resolution method to detect ultra-wideband (UWB) scatterers when using frequency domain measurements. Our approach makes use of the impulse response envelope amplitudes and delays measured over a distance that is larger than the region of stationarity, and detects the 2D coordinates of the channel scatterers, assuming that only single-scattering (single-interaction) processes occur. The identification methodology is based on multiple application of interference cancellation: at every step, we detect the strongest scatterer from an array of measurements, save its information, cancel it from the channel and search for the next strongest scatterer. To precisely define the strength of each scatterer, we present a method to define its birth and death locations along the measurement array. Finally, we verify the method by applying it to measurement results in an outdoor environment; the scatterer locations identified from the measurements show excellent agreement with the physically present objects like walls and columns.