Localization in industrial halls via ultra-wideband signals

In this work a study on an indoor ultra-wideband (UWB) localization system for applications in industrial buildings is presented. Industrial environments are known for beeing extremely difficult in terms of wireless communication, mainly due to the fact, that this sort of channels are characterized by high concentration of metal objects, which cause reflections, leading to strong multipath propagation. A three-dimensional model of the warehouse has been created and used for deterministic wave propagation simulations. In the simulation, the transmitter travels along a predefined route. The receiver infrastructure consists of eight antennas with known coordinates. By means of multiple simulations, the channel influence on the UWB signals has been determined. The implications of this influence, in terms of practical system design and localization accuracy, are assessed. Furthermore the influence of pulse detection methods and geometrical configurations of base-stations are investigated. The position calculation of the mobile beacon is realized using Time Difference of Arrival approach (TDoA), employing a direct solution as well as iterative methods. Eventually the accuracy of obtained results and the theoretical limit are considered based on dilution of precision (DOP) evaluations.