Order Statistics-based Design of UWB Receivers

We propose a non-coherent ultra-wideband (UWB) receiver that leverages a single-sample-per-pulse threshold approach to detect the transmitted symbol and is capable of mitigating the impact of impulse interference. Unlike classical detectors, the proposed receiver does not aim for the peak (1st-order) sample, rather it selects the optimal l-th-order one over the samples of a single pulse. We derive the error probability both under additive white Gaussian noise, for which a closed-form expression is obtained, and under the IEEE 802.15.4a channel model. We also conduct extensive simulations and show that the proposed solution significantly outperforms both single peak and energy detection UWB receivers in the presence of impulse interference.