Evaluation of UWB Beamformers in a Wireless Channel and Potential Microwave Implementations

Ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication is a topic of intense research. It has the potential for superior performance over comparable narrowband wireless systems. UWB wireless systems transmit pulses that have energy concentrated mainly from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. These pulses are transmitted at very low energy levels so as not to interfere with many existing wireless systems that operate in the same band. UWB communication systems can benefit significantly from beamforming networks where the received signal strength depends on angle of arrival.;This thesis focuses on the characterization of a digital beamformer in a real wireless channel. The beamformer is evaluated using various methods to judge its performance impact on a real UWB communication system. An analog UWB beamformer in hardware is derived by taking advantage of a simple microwave circuit realization. The analog UWB beamformer is studied and its feasibility is evaluated.