Pseudo-noise preamble based joint frame and frequency synchronization algorithm in OFDM communication systems

Frame and frequency synchronization are essential for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The frame offset owing to incorrect start point position of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) window, and the carrier frequency offset (CFO) due to Doppler frequency shift or the frequency mismatch between the transmitter and receiver oscillators, can bring severe intersymbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI) for the OFDM system. Relying on the relatively good correlation characteristic of the pseudo-noise (PN) sequence, a joint frame offset and normalized CFO estimation algorithm based on PN preamble in time domain is developed to realize the frame and frequency synchronization in the OFDM system. By comparison, the performances of the traditional algorithm and the improved algorithm are simulated under different conditions. The results indicate that the PN preamble based algorithm both in frame offset estimation and CFO estimation is more accurate, resource-saving and robust even under poor channel condition, such as low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and large normalized CFO.