Impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB) is one of the most classical ultra-wide band (UWB) implementation schemes. The generated pulse width is at sub-nanosecond level, which can take advantage of baseband narrow pulse sequence with low duty ratio to carry signals. And the IR-UWB generator with the advantages of small volume, light weight, low noise, good tunability and anti-electromagnetic interference may generate pulse signals flexibly. Five IR-UWB pulse signal optical generation methods such as IR-UWB pulse signal generated by optical pulse compression, IR-UWB pulse signal based on phase modulation and polarized beam splitting system (BPS), IR-UWB pulse signal based on phase modulation and generated by apodized fiber Bragg grating (AFBG), IR-UWB pulse signal generated by optical band-pass filter and IR-UWB pulse signal generated by semiconductor laser are researched. By contrasting research results in China and foreign countries in this field, IR-UWB optical generation methods hereinbefore are discussed and summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of the methods are compared.