In-building Positioning based on Ultra-WideBand (UWB) signals

The project will implement a demonstrator system to show the viability of indoor coverage as an extension to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capability. Although GNSS is capable of providing accurate location in areas where the satellite signals are available, this is unlikely to be the case inside buildings. A study carried out for the British National Space Centre (BNSC), by Thales Research, identified that pulse Ultra-WideBand (UWB) technology could provide high accuracy indoor positioning at short range. It also identified that there were shortcomings with the state-of-the-art UWB systems, which need further development to make practical systems.

A demonstrator will be developed that can prove the concept of UWB, and also allow development of the techniques which will be needed for full viability of indoor positioning systems, as an extension to GNSS.

The project ran from January 2002 until September 2004.