Real-Time Distance Evaluation System for Wireless Localization

The paper describes the FPGA implementation of a novel position evaluation algorithm based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) principle that combines the characteristics of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Modulation (OFDM) symbol with the properties of the Zadoff-Chu mathematical sequences. The resulting system is highly scalable and its characteristics are easily adaptable to different operating scenarios. The algorithm has been implemented using the Stratix IV-E EP4SGX70HF35C3 FPGA, requiring about 112k bit of memory and less than 44k logic elements of which about 16k are registers. The paper describes the algorithm and its FPGA implementation along with experimental results validating the system performance even in the presence of multipath interferences and showing precision in target position estimation that is better than 2 cm.