Ultra-wideband (UWB) radios are expected to play a revolutionary role in the future of wireless communications systems. The great interest in UWB communications was sparked by FCC rulings in February 2002 that authorized the unlicensed commercial deployment of UWB technology under a strict power control in 7500 MHz of spectrum. This fast-emerging technology uses extremely narrow and low-power RF pulses to transmit and receive information. Using short-duration pulses as the basic building block of communication results in exceptionally attractive features as well as unique technical challenges.This book provides a comprehensive introduction to UWB communications systems in a simple and easy-to-understand language. It covers the fundamentals of short pulse generation and propagation, regulatory issues, concerns about UWB interference, and UWB applications and potential target markets.

Faranak Nekoogar, Ph.D., is coauthor of From ASICs to SOCs: A Practical Approach, published by Prentice Hall (2003). She has worked for many years researching UWB topics in the Department of Applied Science at University of California, Davis. Faranak has published several patent applications and technical papers in the following areas of UWB research: multiple-access techniques, channel estimation, synchronization, and secure wireless sensor networks using UWB radios. She currently conducts research on UWB-RFIDs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She also has several years of industry experience in functional and timing verification of application-specific integrated circuits and systems-on-a-chip.