US Patent 7715502 Digital low-power CMOS pulse generator for ultra-wideband systems

A low-power pulse generator is provided for use in ultra-wideband (UWB) systems. In one embodiment, the UWB pulse generator includes four pulse generators, such as digital triangular pulse generators, that generate Gaussian-like pulses of alternating polarity at different time offsets. The resulting four Gaussian-like pulses are combined to generate a UWB pulse that approximates the fifth derivative of a Gaussian pulse. In other embodiments, different-order derivatives of a Gaussian pulse may be approximated by combining different numbers of Gaussian-like pulses. The UWB pulse generator is preferably implemented with CMOS circuitry to limit power consumption.