Heart rate estimation using ultra wide band pulse radar

Ultra Wide Band radar is a promising technique for remote vital signs monitoring. For home monitoring and consumer devices, FCC rules pose severe limits to the available band and the maximum transmitted power. Furthermore, the time varying nature of vital signs, and the demand of low complexity devices require simple detection algorithms. In this paper vital signs are monitored with a FCC compliant system; in this scenario, low signal to noise ratio and short signal observations are the main issues for period detection. Therefore, a simple detection algorithm is proposed and compared with the widely used correlation based detection algorithm. Both theoretical analysis and experimental re sults show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in the considered scenario.