Methods and apparatus to mitigate interference and to extend field of view in ultra-wideband systems

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first detector configured to generate a first digitized stream of pulses by identifying radio frequency (RF) pulses that are above a first threshold;

a second detector configured to generate a second digitized stream of pulses by identifying radio frequency (RF) pulses that are above a second threshold different than the first threshold;

a first packet decoder configured to:

receive the first digitized stream of pulses;

decode a first valid over-the-air packet from the first digitized stream of pulses according to a known burst pattern; and

generate a first time-stamped tag data packet comprising information in the first valid over-the-air packet and a first timestamp; a second packet decoder configured to:

receive the second digitized stream of pulses; decode a second valid over-the-air packet from the second digitized stream of pulses according to the known burst pattern; and

generate a second time-stamped tag data packet comprising information in the second valid over-the-air packet and a second timestamp; an arbiter in communication with the first and second packet decoders, the arbiter configured to:

receive at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packets; and

select a time-stamped tag data packet from the at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packets; and a packet formatter to:

formulate a network data packet based on the selected time-stamped tag data packet; and

output the network data packet, wherein at least one of the first and second detectors, the first and second packet decoders, the arbiter, and the packet formatter is implemented via a logic circuit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the arbiter is configured to send a reset command to at least one of the first and second packet decoders in response to the selection of the selected time-stamped tag data packet.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the arbiter is configured to determine if the selected time-stamped tag data packet is a duplicate of at least one stored time-stamped tag data packet, wherein the packet formatter is configured to formulate and output the network data packet in response to the selected time-stamped tag data packet is not being a duplicate of the at least one stored time-stamped tag data packet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the arbiter is configured to select the time-stamped tag data packet from the at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packets by determining which of the at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packets arrived at the arbiter first.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first detector is configured to determine if a signal includes interference and to dispose of the signal if the signal includes interference.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the RF pulses are ultra-wide band pulses.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first time stamp represents an average of counter values maintained by the apparatus receiver.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the RF pulses are provided to the first and second detectors after being filtered.

9. A method comprising:

generating a first digitized stream of pulses by identifying RF pulses that are above a first threshold;

generating a second digitized stream of pulses by identifying RF pulses that are above a second threshold different than the first threshold;

decoding a first valid over-the-air packet from the first digitized stream of pulses according to a known burst pattern;

generating a first time-stamped tag data packet comprising information in the first valid over-the-air packet and a first timestamp;

decoding a second valid over-the-air packet from the second digitized stream of pulses according to the known burst pattern;

generating a second time-stamped tag data packet comprising information in the second valid over-the-air packet and a second timestamp;

selecting, using a logic circuit, a time-stamped tag data packet from at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packets;

formulating a network data packet based on the selected time-stamped tag data packet; and

outputting the network data packet.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising sending a reset command to at least one of first and second packet decoders in response to the selection of the selected time-stamped tag data packet.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining if the selected time-stamped tag data packet is a duplicate of at least one stored time-stamped tag data packet, wherein, the outputting of the network data packet is in response to the selected time-stamped tag data packet not being a duplicate of the at least one stored time-stamped tag data packet.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first time stamp represents an average of counter values maintained by a receiver.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein selecting the selected time-stamped tag data packet from the at least one of the first and second time-stamped tag data packet comprising determining which of the at least one first and second time-stamped tag data packets arrived at the arbiter first.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining if a signal includes interference; and

disposing of the signal if the signal includes interference.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the RF pulses are ultra-wide band pulses.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising filtering the RF pulses prior to the generating of the first and second digitized streams of pulses.