FM-UWB for radar and communications in medical applications

UWB technology is an attractive technology for Wireless Body Area Networks. There are many advantages of using ultra-wideband (UWB) as both a sensing and a communication standard for biomedical applications: very low radiated power (-41.3 dBm/MHz), low power consumption, good coexistence with other existing wireless technologies, robustness to interference and multipath. Moreover, one specific UWB technology, namely Frequency Modulated (FM)-UWB, has also an important advantage, which make it even more convenient for biomedical applications, such as lower power consumption than IR-UWB. The main issue that is addressed in this paper is the integration of sensing and communication devices using FM-UWB so that a single device can be obtained for two different operational modes. A preliminary feasibility study shows that an integrated sensing and communication device based on FM-UWB can meet the requirements, both for the sensing and the communication points of view, of typical biomedical applications such as non-invasive heart rate monitoring.

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