In this paper, the decision-level data fusion techniques are extended to the multiuser detection (MUD) field. Then two novel MUD algorithms, that is the chairman arbitrating decision-level fusion criterion (CA-DFC) based MUD algorithm and the veto logic decision-level fusion criterion (VL-DFC) based MUD algorithm, are proposed for DS-UWB communication systems. In CA-DFC based method, the chairman can make his arbitration among the preliminary decisions from sub-optimal detectors by his own rule. In the VL-DFC based method, the undetermined bits in these preliminary decisions are considered to construct a simplified solution space, and then the chairman can make his final decision within this space. Simulation results demonstrate that the performances of CA-DFC and VL-DFC based MUD algorithms are superior to those of other sub-optimal MUD algorithms, and even close to that of OMD. Moreover, both of these proposed algorithms have lower computational complexity than OMD, which reveals their efficiency. Compared with CA-DFC, VL-DFC based algorithm achieves a little improvement in its performance, at the cost of the increment in its computational complexity. Thus, they can be applied to different practical situations.
Keywords: DS-UWB; data fusion; decision-level fusion criterion (DFC); multiuser detection (MUD).