An Ultra-Wideband-Based Indoor Ranging and Positioning System with Wireless Synchronized Beacons Networks for Asynchronized Receivers

This thesis designs and studies an Ultra-Wideband (UWB)-based radio frequency (RF) infrastructure aimed at accurate ranging and positioning in GNSS-denied environments such as tunnels and other indoor facilities. This study evaluates the performance and reliability of UWB ranging technology in multipath-rich environments with Line-of-Sight (LOS) path clear, LOS path weak, and LOS path blocked conditions between two modules. The thesis proposes a novel Leading and Secondary beacons – Time Difference of Arrival (LS-TDOA) method for beacon-based positioning systems to eliminate synchronization requirements between beacons and receivers while mitigating clock errors to achieve a good balance in the trade-off between device compatibility, deployment convenience, and positioning accuracy. The thesis details the proposed LS-TDOA algorithm, system-level design, UWB technology selection, wireless channel analysis, and hardware implementation. The thesis provides a comparative analysis of the LS-TDOA with Two-Way Ranging (TWR) and traditional Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) methods and highlights its efficiency. Simulation and experimental results confirm the feasibility and accuracy of the LS-TDOA approach. Finally, the thesis provides some future work suggestions focusing on scalability and performance in complex environments.