UWB ultra-wideband positioning principle and application

火辣西米秀

UWB ultra-wideband positioning principle and application [Copy link]

Last September, at Apple’s new product launch conference, the news that all iPhone 11s will be equipped with UWB ultra-wideband chips brought UWB back into the public eye. So, what kind of technology is UWB, and what changes can it bring to our lives?

UWB originally emerged as a communication technology intended for short-distance, broadband wireless communications, and is on the same level as WIFI, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.

Unlike traditional narrowband communications such as WIFI and Bluetooth, UWB's ultra-wideband allows it to detect extremely narrow and sharp pulses, so that two pulses that are very close to each other can be distinguished. This means that the distance resolution can be very high, giving UWB an inherent advantage in ranging.

The pulse width of UWB can be less than 1ns. The distance traveled by light and radio in this time is 30cm. By further subdividing the pulse, such as dividing it into 3 parts, which is not difficult, it is easy to obtain a distance resolution of 10cm. Since the speed of light is extremely stable and is not affected by any external factors, UWB distance measurement is inherently stable.

Physically, bandwidth is inversely proportional to pulse width, and narrowband communication cannot produce narrow pulses. Therefore, various narrowband communication technologies such as WiFi and Bluetooth can only measure distance by measuring signal strength, angle of arrival, etc. This is affected by power supply voltage, environment, antenna technology, and ranging distance, so the ranging accuracy cannot be very high and is very unstable.

UWB ranging is achieved by measuring the time it takes for a data packet to arrive at the frontier during the communication process. Ranging is the basis of positioning. Due to the high precision and stability of UWB ultra-wideband ranging, the application of UWB positioning in the positioning field has gradually become mainstream.

The first step of UWB positioning: ranging

Distance measurement uses two-way-time-of-flight (TW-TOF)

Simply put, it is to measure the round-trip radio flight time between two points, which is the two-way flight time. The two-way flight time x the speed of light is the two-way flight distance between the transmitter and the receiver. This distance divided by 2 is the one-way distance.

UWB positioning step 2: positioning

After measuring the distance (TOA) or distance difference (TDOA) between the object (tag) and several reference points (****) with known positions, the location of the tag can be calculated.

UWB Application Scenarios

With the development of big data, IT, and AI technologies, the intelligence level of automated equipment represented by drones, driverless cars, and robots has made rapid progress. The development of Internet of Things technology has realized the interconnection of all things.

However, due to the lack of location information, especially high-precision location information, many advanced intelligent devices can neither automatically grasp nor let go of the target, and automation is basically unable to move. Without the support of location information, the operation of the entire society requires additional costs for manual location identification, transmission, and processing. Without location, the Internet of Things can only be connected in the dark and on paper.

The emergence of UWB technology and the addition and binding of basic high-precision positioning information have enabled the flow, decision-making and processing of people, objects and information to be based on space and location. The effectiveness of modern information processing technology, with which humans are armed to the teeth, will be more fully released, which will greatly improve the operating efficiency of the entire society and bring about an efficiency revolution.

1. Smart Factory: In response to the business needs of people, objects or equipment in a mobile state, real-time management and information feedback of the production process are carried out, providing real-time location data support for the informatization and standardization of management and operations within the factory, and improving the level of intelligence in the manufacturing industry.

2. Smart construction site: Focusing on the five major elements of "people, machines, materials, methods, and environment" on the construction site, the company adopts advanced real-time positioning technology to improve the management level of the construction site while building a platform for communication, coordination, and information sharing for all parties involved in the project.

3. National Power Engineering: Utilize high-precision positioning technology and 3D visualization technology to achieve automatic, real-time positioning and monitoring of production area staff, visitors, vehicles, etc., and combine access control systems, video surveillance systems, and alarm systems to improve the company's production safety level.

4. Judicial prisons: Use high-precision real-time positioning technology to free up police forces, improve work efficiency, fill regulatory loopholes, reduce regulatory enforcement risks, and achieve pre-emptive prevention, in-process control, and post-event verification.

5. Tunnels and corridors: Establish a personnel positioning management system, combined with the existing access control system, to realize the positioning display of personnel in the tunnel/corridor, emergency alarm, personnel evacuation command, etc.

6. Railway transportation: By obtaining the route and location data of maintenance personnel, the system automatically pushes relevant work guidance information to determine whether maintenance specifications are met, improve the level of informationization and work efficiency of vehicle maintenance management, improve maintenance quality, and ensure operational safety.

7. Large supermarkets, airports, hotels, museums, exhibition centers, etc.: They play an important role in emergency rescue, fire fighting, safety law enforcement, etc. In emergency situations, they provide strong technical support for rescue, better protect the safety of rescuers and trapped people, and make rescue more effective.

okhxyyo

I've learned a lot. I've always been listening to Bluetooth, WiFi, 5G, but I haven't really heard of UWB. Thanks for sharing.

qwqwqw2088

UWB technology looks very powerful, the ranging accuracy should be very accurate, and it is very suitable for the Internet of Things

alan000345

Future development trend