On remote RF-based orientation detection

A novel concept is proposed for orientation estimation of mobile tags for Ultra-WideBand (UWB) localization systems. The concept is based on the preservation of polarization by the (indoor) radio channel for Line of Sight (LOS) components. It is shown that an UWB localization system can estimate the 2 dimensional orientation of an UWB transmitter for any tag position within the coverage area, if the polarization of the local electric field is measured by at least 4 receivers. Additionally, it is proven that an UWB receiver receiver (RX) needs only 2 antennas to measure the local polarization direction, using the estimate of the tags position. Finally, the accuracy is presented of 2-dimensional orientation estimation algorithms in the presence of noise.