An UWB Channel Impulse Response De-Noising Method for NLOS/LOS Classification Boosting

Ultrawideband (UWB) radio frequency positioning technology has found extensive applications in indoor and outdoor localization due to its strong anti-interference capabilities, high penetration power, and precise measurement accuracy. However, its positioning accuracy significantly decreases under nonline-of-sight (NLOS) conditions, particularly in dynamic NLOS environments. Therefore, it is essential to identify NLOS propagation and mitigate its associated errors. To overcome these issues, this study proposes a novel enhanced domain-adversarial neural network for UWB signal occlusion recognition (EDANN-SOR). EDANN-SOR integrates hybrid manually extracted channel impulse response (CIR) features, effectively aligning the source and target domains and extracting discriminative and domain-invariant UWB CIR features in dynamic NLOS environments. Through adversarial learning, our method achieves high generalization with minimal CIR sample requirements, reducing the need for extensive data collection and significantly enhancing robustness in distance measurement and positioning under dynamic NLOS conditions. In contrast to state-of-the-art NLOS identification and transfer learning (TL) techniques, our method excels in both binary and multiclass NLOS classification. Specifically, it achieves an accuracy of over 97.36% in conventional LOS/NLOS binary classification across scenarios and 97.07% in multiclass classification. The integration of manually extracted features has been proved effective in improving the EDANN-SOR model’s ability to distinguish among LOS, human, and glass obstacles.

In Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) positioning, wireless signals are subject to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation due to obstruction by obstacles, which leads to ranging and positioning estimation errors. How to accurately and efficiently identify line-of-sight (LOS) and NLOS propagation paths is a key research task in UWB positioning systems. By effectively integrating the characteristics of global channel impulse response (CIR) sequence features and statistical time-domain features, a dual-branch feature fusion Transformer (DBFF-Transformer) is proposed for NLOS path identification. Firstly, the original CIR sequence data is processed using the Transformer to learn the global feature relationships within the data. Secondly, four key time-domain features are extracted from the CIR sequence: the first-path energy ratio, the root-mean-square time delay spread, the kurtosis and the phase difference. Finally, by integrating the sequence features and the time-domain features, the two features’ branches are fused through a fully connected network. The proposed method is evaluated in two typical indoor scenarios from the latest open-source datasets of the eWINE project. The ablation experiment proves that the fusion of the sequence features and time-domain features of the CIR sequence can effectively improve NLOS identification accuracy. The identification accuracy in the two experimental scenarios is 95.9% and 95.7%, with F1 scores of 97.2% and 97.1% and Recall of 97.4% and 96.4%, respectively. The comparative analysis of the DBFF-Transformer with the state-of-the-art baseline models demonstrates superior accuracy and robustness, which can provide a novel solution for NLOS identification in UWB indoor positioning.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) and WiFi technologies have been widely proposed for the implementation of accurate and scalable indoor positioning systems (IPSs). Among different approaches, fingerprinting appears particularly suitable for WiFi IPSs and was also proposed for UWB IPSs, in order to cope with the decrease in accuracy of time of arrival (ToA)-based lateration schemes in the case of severe multipath and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) environments. However, so far, the two technologies have been analyzed under very different assumptions, and no fair performance comparison has been carried out. This paper fills this gap by comparing UWB- and WiFi-based fingerprinting under similar settings and scenarios by computer simulations. Two different k-nearest neighbor (kNN) algorithms are considered in the comparison: a traditional fixed k algorithm, and a novel dynamic k algorithm capable of operating on fingerprints composed of multiple location-dependent features extracted from the channel impulse response (CIR), typically made available by UWB hardware. The results show that UWB and WiFi technologies lead to a similar accuracy when a traditional algorithm using a single feature is adopted; when used in combination with the proposed dynamic k algorithm operating on channel energy and delay spread, UWB outperforms WiFi, providing higher accuracy and more degrees of freedom in the design of the system architecture.

The error compensation and suppression effects of traditional ultrawideband (UWB) ranging in non Line of Sight (NLOS) environments are limited. The contribution of specific occlusions to UWB spatial perception in NLOS is ignored. To achieve comprehensive sensing of spatial information by UWB, we initially analyze the channel impulse response (CIR) and the underlying parameters of registers during UWB communication. By comparing the difference between NLOS and line-of-sight (LOS) environments for each parameter on a continuous time series, a fast discriminative method for UWB environment conversion is proposed. Further, combining the ensemble learning XGBoost classifier, an efficient NLOS occlusion recognition method is proposed. At the same time, an algorithm optimization based on a discrete degree threshold is designed. It is based on loss function probability matrix-weighted predictive labeling. The prediction matrix of the loss function of the XGBoost algorithm is used as label weights. The UWB prediction labels of continuous time series are weighted, which mitigates the effect of low-probability data on the overall prediction results. Finally, UWB spatial sensing experiments are carried out to verify the reliability of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the mutation in the parameter profile can effectively perceive the LOS/NLOS transition. The recognition accuracy of the proposed occlusion recognition method in conditions of human, metal, and wall occlusion is 94.44%, 92.00%, and 95.87%, respectively. In contrast to the origin method, the suggested algorithm’s average recognition accuracy has increased by 16.71%. Its precise recognition accuracy makes UWB spatial sensing more effective.

In the rapidly evolving Internet of Things (IoT) landscape, accurate indoor positioning is increasingly vital. The proposed algorithm synergizes an ultrawideband (UWB) sensor with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and artificial intelligence to obtain precise positioning in nonline-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. In the proposed UWB module, a large language model (LLM) such as bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) algorithm is designed to utilize the channel impulse response (CIR) for effective NLOS identification and UWB ranging trustworthiness evaluation. Concurrently, the IMU module is also designed with BERT to recognize various pedestrian activity states, thereby optimizing positioning. BERT’s self-attention mechanism and deep learning (DL) bidirectional training efficiently extract essential features from sequential data, capturing both local and global information. The integration of both UWB and IMU through a proposed tightly coupled algorithm significantly boosts positioning performance. Experimental campaigns demonstrate an average NLOS identification accuracy, line-of-sight (LOS), and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${F}2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 98.8%, 99.4%, and 0.9926, respectively. These performances surpass the state-of-the-art least-squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), convolutional neural network (CNN), and CNN with long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) up to 17.66% in NLOS identification. In terms of pedestrian activity recognition using BERT, the BERT algorithm achieves a precision (recall) of 99.3% (99.4%), notably outperforming the CNN and CNN-LSTM by 17.9% (16.2%) and 11.9% (10.9%), respectively. Finally, the UWB-IMU algorithm significantly enhances positioning accuracy by 80.5%, outperforming Kalman, LSTM-EKF, and particle filter (PF) methods by 68.1%, 48.3%, and 45.0%, respectively. The proposed approach presents a robust solution for indoor positioning for IoT applications, particularly in challenging NLOS environments.

Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation poses a significant challenge to achieving high-accuracy ultra-wideband (UWB) indoor positioning. To address this issue, this study investigates solutions from two complementary perspectives: NLOS identification and error mitigation. First, an NLOS signal classification model is proposed based on multidimensional statistics of the channel impulse response (CIR). The model incorporates an attention mechanism and an improved snake optimization (ISO) algorithm, achieving significantly enhanced classification accuracy and robustness. Building on this foundation, a UKF–BiLSTM dual-directional mutual calibration framework is proposed to compensate for NLOS errors dynamically. The framework embeds the constant turn rate and velocity (CTRV) motion model within an unscented Kalman filter (UKF) to enhance trajectory modeling. It establishes a bidirectional correction loop with a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network. Through the synergy of physical constraints and data-driven learning, the framework adaptively suppresses NLOS errors. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed classification model and positioning framework significantly outperform state-of-the-art methods, thereby providing a systematic solution for high-precision and robust UWB positioning in complex indoor environments.

This work proposes channel impulse response (CIR) prediction for time-varying ultra-wideband (UWB) channels by exploiting the fast movement of channel taps within delay bins. Considering the sparsity of UWB channels, we introduce a window-based CIR (WB-CIR) to approximate the high temporal resolutions of UWB channels. A recursive least square (RLS) algorithm is adopted to predict the time evolution of the WB-CIR. For predicting the future WB-CIR tap of window wk, three RLS filter coefficients are computed from the observed WB-CIRs of the left wk−1, the current wk and the right wk+1 windows. The filter coefficient with the lowest RLS error is used to predict the future WB-CIR tap. To evaluate our proposed prediction method, UWB CIRs are collected through measurement campaigns in outdoor environments considering line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. Under similar computational complexity, our proposed method provides an improvement in prediction errors of approximately 80% for LOS and 63% for NLOS scenarios compared with a conventional method.

Abstract. Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology stands out among numerous indoor positioning techniques due to its high operating frequency, low interception capability, resistance to multipath effects, and strong penetration. The UWB uses the time-of-arrival (TOA) to estimate the distance between the transmitter and receiver anchors in centimeter accuracy. However, in complex indoor positioning environments, obstacles such as walls, glass windows, metal plates, and wooden doors may block and reflect signals, inevitably causing non-line-of-sight (NLOS) errors that significantly affect positioning accuracy. The NLOS signal has lower signal energy due to the reflections. Thus, the channel impulse responses (CIR) from NLOS and LOS are different. To address the NLOS signal identification issue in UWB positioning, we utilize UWB CIR data collected from various positioning scenarios as the data source. CIR waveform input features are provided for the NLOS signal recognition model, and four machine learning models—Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and XGBoost—are trained and optimized for NLOS signal recognition. The aim of the study is to analyze the performance of different machine learning algorithms for NLOS signal recognition in UWB indoor localization using these features. Experimental results indicate that machine learning-based NLOS signal recognition algorithms can achieve an accuracy of approximately 77.46%, precision of 80.46%, and an F1 score of 0.81. Among the four models, the XGBoost model demonstrates generally better recognition performance.

Using Time of Arrival (TOA) on ultra-wideband (UWB) signal is well known as a promising indoor localization technique. However, Non Line-of-Sight (NLoS) issue resulting from complicated scenarios is considered as a key challenge to transfer this technology into mature products. In this paper, a convex hull based node selection method is proposed to improve the accuracy of NLoS identification and mitigation. In particular, two reference nodes are selected adaptively from four nodes to carry out a 2-dimension (2D) indoor localization in a convex hull based effective localization area (ELA). Performance is evaluated using measurement data collected from a Medav UWB SIMO channel sounder, benchmarked to the parametric identification method and the first peak detection method.

Modern indoor positioning systems are used to track machines or navigate people. Besides localization accuracy, one emerging key requirement is the robustness of a system with regard to changes in the environment. One mechanism to improve this robustness is the detection of Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) situations. In this paper, a novel, predictive NLOS detection concept is introduced. Moving objects induce changes in the Channel Impulse Response. While close-range obstacles are identified by a pulsing first path peak amplitude, objects further away can be detected using a Gabor filter bank. Both features for detection have been investigated in ideal and real-world environments with the results showing clear evidence that our novel method is delivering good-confidence NLOS detection.

The interconnection of devices, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), enables a broad variety of smart applications and location-based services. The latter is often realized via transponder based approaches, which actively determine device positions within Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). In addition, interpreting wireless signal measurements also enables the utilization of radar-like passive localization of objects, further enhancing the capabilities of WSN ranging from environmental mapping to multipath detection. For these approaches, the target objects are not required to hold any device nor to actively participate in the localization process. Instead, the signal delays caused by reflections at objects within the propagation environment are used to localize the object. In this work, we used Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) sensors to measure Channel Impulse Responses (CIRs) within a WSN. Determining an object position based on the CIR can be achieved by formulating an elliptical model. Based on this relation, we propose a CIR environmental mapping (CIR-EM) method, which represents a heatmap generation of the propagation environment based on the CIRs taken from radio communication signals. Along with providing imaging capabilities, this method also allows a more robust localization when compared to state-of-the-art methods. This paper provides a proof-of-concept of passive localization solely based on evaluating radio communication signals by conducting measurement campaigns in an anechoic chamber as a best-case environment. Furthermore, shortcomings due to physical layer limitations when using non-dedicated hardware and signals are investigated. Overall, this work lays a foundation for related research and further evaluation in more application-oriented scenarios.

At present, location technology divides into outdoor location technology and indoor location technology. Comparing with other indoor location methods, ultra-wide band (UWB)indoor location technology has the advantages of strong anti-multipath interference ability and signal penetration ability. But, when this method faces large obstacles or metal obstacles, non line of sight (NLOS) will still occur. Indoor location system is a part of our project Home Care System for The Elderly. The NLOS of Indoor location system reduces the reliability of Home Care System for The Elderly. In order to improve the accuracy of location and efficiency of operation, an NLOS detection method based on k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm is proposed. This algorithm modeled the training samples to find the K value with the highest recognition accuracy. The experimental results show that The NLOS detection accuracy of this method is 78% in the simulated apartment scene. With the same number of samples, the accuracy of the widely used Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) algorithm is 67%. The experimental results show that KNN algorithm is more suitable for Home Care System for The Elderly for it can keep high accuracy with less requirement for the number of samples than CNN.

The indoor localization and tracking of objects and humans with high accuracy is becoming increasingly important in a number of applications including healthcare, ambient assistant-living, surveillance, among others. Since Ultra-wideband (UWB) systems have a large operating bandwidth, they can provide centimeter (cm) level localization accuracy in Line-of-Sight (LoS) scenarios. However, current commercial UWB systems require the target to carry an active device (tag) so that it can be precisely located and this may be impractical in applications such as security and surveillance. In this work, we process experimental data obtained from a multi-static UWB radar network for the passive indoor localization of a moving target. Current fingerprinting-based passive localization techniques require a substantial radio-map survey in the offline training phase and labor-intensive fingerprint updates when there are changes in the environment. In this work, on the other hand, we propose to use the fine-grained physical layer information, known as Channel Impulse response (CIR), that is exchanged between UWB modules and capitalize on the fact that a moving person induces variations in the CIR that stand out against the background signal. Our results show that a walking target can be passively located with a median distance error as low as 0.55m in an indoor environment.

Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) ranging sensors have been widely adopted for robotic navigation thanks to their extremely high bandwidth and hence high resolution. However, off-the-shelf devices may output ranges with significant errors in cluttered, severe non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments. Recently, neural networks have been actively studied to improve the ranging accuracy of UWB sensors using the channel-impulse-response (CIR) as input. However, previous works have not systematically evaluated the efficacy of various packet types and their possible combinations in a two-way-ranging transaction, including poll, response and final packets. In this paper, we firstly investigate the utility of different packet types and their combinations when used as input for a neural network. Secondly, we propose two novel data-driven approaches, namely FMCIR and WMCIR, that leverage two-sided CIRs for efficient UWB error mitigation. Our approaches outperform state-of-the-art by a significant margin, further reducing range errors up to 45%. Finally, we create and release a dataset of transaction-level synchronized CIRs (each sample consists of the CIR of the poll, response and final packets), which will enable further studies in this area.

High-accuracy localization systems for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments have been a popular focus of research on indoor positioning. In particular, the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for ranging is emerging as an effective method of indoor localization due to its high accuracy. To improve the overall performance of UWB systems, combining UWB technology with an inertial navigation system (INS) is a commonly used indoor positioning approach. However, UWB measurements are affected by outliers under the NLOS propagation of radio signals. In addition, INS tend to suffer from error accumulation without constraints imposed by observations from other sensors. To address these problems, an adaptive robust extended Kalman filter algorithm based on tightly coupled UWB/INS/floor map integration is proposed, with which the noise in the UWB observations can be adaptively adjusted. The integrated system performs NLOS identification based on a map line segment matching algorithm; then, abnormal observations are abandoned, or their weights are reduced to prevent the error accumulation of the INS from being incorrectly constrained. Finally, an evaluation based on experimental data shows the significant enhancement achieved with the proposed algorithm based on the integration of UWB technology, an INS and a floor map, which can achieve a 2-D positioning accuracy that corresponds to a root mean square error of 0.27 m. Thus, substantial improvements can be achieved for long-term operation in NLOS environments using the proposed integration scheme.