A Multi-Static Radar Network with Ultra-Wideband Radio-Equipped Devices

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Signal Processing

Background:

• Ultra-wideband (UWB) radios are increasingly common in devices like mobile phones and WiFi routers.
• Channel impulse response (CIR) measurements are crucial for UWB communication (data decoding) and localization (time-of-flight estimation).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the use of CIR measurements for augmenting UWB networks into a multi-static radar system.
• To enable tag-free human tracking using existing UWB infrastructure.

Main Methods:

• Experimental evaluation using off-the-shelf UWB hardware.
• Implementation of simple, distributed filtering techniques.
• Utilizing CIR measurements for radar network formation.

Main Results:

• Successful experimental validation of the proposed multi-static radar approach.
• Real-time tracking of a tag-free human subject using UWB modules.
• Demonstration of the system's feasibility with simple, distributed filtering.

Conclusions:

• CIR measurements can effectively transform UWB communication and localization networks into multi-static radar systems.
• This technology facilitates tag-free human tracking, paving the way for advanced smart home applications.
• Potential applications include smart lighting, audio systems, elderly monitoring, and security.