Coarse first arriving path detection for subscriber location in mobile communication systems

The objective of this paper is to determine the potentialities of a detection scheme within the framework of subscriber location. Usually, it is the first arrival that bears the necessary information for user location. In NLOS situations, this first arrival is very much attenuated with respect to the RAKE synchronisation time instant, and it is placed well before this point. The determination of a window comprising this point is a must for a later use of a high resolution technique. Using a Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT), an improved coarse first arriving path detector from propagation channel estimates is derived. Furthermore, an expression for false alarm probability is provided and detector performance is evaluated for different receiver configurations and signal propagation conditions.