Method for the detection of symbols and associated receiver

1. A method for detection of symbols by a receiver, each symbol being transmitted from a transmitter in the form of a succession of pulses representing a predetermined sequence of sent digital values, the sent digital values having respective nominal distributions within each predetermined sequence, the method comprising:

receiving, at the receiver, a succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter;

determining a sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses, said received digital values having respective distributions within the determined sequence; and

deciding on the symbol received as a function of the determined sequence of received digital values, the decision comprising a weighting of the received digital values of the determined sequence, the weighting chosen so as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which said succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter is transmitted according to a pseudo-random sequence of time hops.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which said succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter is modulated by time shifting of the pulses.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which said succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter is modulated by enabling or disabling the transmission of the pulses.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which each pulse from said succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter has a duration in the range between a few hundreds of picoseconds and a few nanoseconds.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the transmitter and the receiver use an ultra-wide-band radio communications technology.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the determination of the sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses comprises a comparison of the energy of each pulse from the received succession of pulses with at least one given threshold.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the decision on the symbol received comprises the calculation of a correlation of the determined sequence of received digital values with each of the symbols able to be transmitted from the transmitter, and the determination of the symbol corresponding to the best correlation, and in which the correlation calculation comprises a counting operation of the common digital values between the determined sequence of received digital values and each of the symbols able to be transmitted from the transmitter, said counting operation also applying respective weighting coefficients for the received digital values, in such a manner as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.

9. A receiver designed for detecting symbols, each symbol being transmitted from a transmitter in the form of a succession of pulses representing a predetermined sequence of sent digital values, the sent digital values having respective nominal distributions within each predetermined sequence, the receiver comprising:

means for receiving a succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter;

means for determining a sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses, said received digital values having respective distributions within the determined sequence; and

means for deciding on the symbol received as a function of the determined sequence of received digital values, said means for deciding on the symbol received comprising means for weighting of the received digital values of the determined sequence, so as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.

10. A computer program product for detection of symbols by a receiver, each symbol being transmitted from a transmitter in the form of a succession of pulses representing a predetermined sequence of sent digital values, the sent digital values having respective nominal distributions within each predetermined sequence, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising program instructions, the computer program being loadable into a data-processing unit of the receiver and adapted to cause the data-processing unit to carry out:

receiving, at the receiver, a succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter;

determining a sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses, said received digital values having respective distributions within the determined sequence; and

deciding on the symbol received as a function of the determined sequence of received digital values, the decision comprising a weighting of the received digital values of the determined sequence, the weighting chosen so as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.

11. A device for detection of symbols, each symbol being transmitted from a transmitter in the form of a succession of pulses representing a predetermined sequence of sent digital values, the sent digital values having respective nominal distributions within each predetermined sequence, the detection device comprising:

means for obtaining a succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter;

means for determining a sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses, said received digital values having respective distributions within the determined sequence; and

means for deciding on the symbol received as a function of the determined sequence of received digital values, said means for deciding on the symbol received comprising means for weighting of the received digital values of the determined sequence, so as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.

12. A programmable component for detecting symbols, each symbol being transmitted from a transmitter in the form of a succession of pulses representing a predetermined sequence of sent digital values, the sent digital values having respective nominal distributions within each predetermined sequence, the programmable component comprising:

means for obtaining a succession of pulses substantially corresponding to a symbol transmitted from the transmitter;

means for determining a sequence of received digital values corresponding to said received succession of pulses, said received digital values having respective distributions within the determined sequence; and

means for deciding on the symbol received as a function of the determined sequence of received digital values, said means for deciding on the symbol received comprising means for weighting of the received digital values of the determined sequence, so as to restore the respective distributions of the received digital values to the respective nominal distributions of said sent digital values.