Channel Capacity Limitations versus Hardware Implementation for UWB Impulse Radio Communications

Starting from the Shannon channel capacity, we propose an IR-UWB channel capacity based on the delay spread for multipath time variant channels. This IR-UWB channel capacity is obtained from the no ISI (Inter Symbol Interference) assumption and for binary modulations. The impact of the kind of implementation is considered on the IR-UWB channel capacity. This study is lead for mixed and mostly digital implementation. The key parameters and theirs impacts on the channel capacity are exposed in each case: the data converters for mostly digital implementations and the pulse generator capabilities for mixed implementations. Finally, these two implementations are compared from a data rate point of view. Their behaviors regarding an increase of the operating frequency are also studied.