AGC m-seq m-seq guard

AGC guard OFDM OFDM

0 1999 IEEE
0-7803-5435-4/99/$10.00 2203 VTC '99
111. Theoretical Analysis
In this section we analyze the performance of the PN-
based synchronizer in Figure 2 and the conventional
OFDM synchronizer [l] in AWGN channels. The base
band representation of the received signal is
ro(t) = so(t)exp(j(2ne,t/7', + 0)) + n o ( t ) ,
where no(t) is white Gaussian noise with two sided spec-
tral density N@ and sdt) is the transmitted preamble.
Further, 8 is the carrier phase and E, = Af. T, is the
frequency-offset to be estimated, when normalized by the
sub-channel spacing UT.
Let r[k] denote the sampled received signal and let a
denote the slip between the (oversampled) received PN-
sequence and the locally generated PN-sequence. Here
this slip is assumed to be an integer. The received sam-
pled signal is multiplied with the known PN-sequence to
get a remodulated signal, which later is summed to get
the sub-correlator output. The remodulated signal can be
calculated as
c* [ k - a ] r[k]
= o , c * [ k - a ] c [ k ] e x p ( j ( 2 n e , k / M + 0,)) + n [ k l ,
where os is the power of the transmitted signal, M is the
number of channels in the OFDM system, n[k] is white
Gaussian noise with variance o i and c[k] is the known
PN-sequence taking the values c [ k ] = 51kj. The synchro-
nization signal is given by
1
c*[k-n-Z~-a]r[k-n-Z~] (3)
K-1
c * [ k - n - (I + P ) K - a ] r [ k - n - ( I + P)K]
where L is the number of products used for the sync sig-
)7
nal, P is the delay when calculating the products and K is
the correlator length. For the PN-based preamble we use
only one product for estimation and no extra delay so L
and P are equal to one. For the conventional preamble
they are both equal to half the number of sub-channels.
The correlator length, K, is approximately half the pream-
ble length for the PN-based synchronizer while it equals
one for the conventional preamble. The frequency esti-
mate is given by the phase of the sync signal and the tim-
ing signal is given by its amplitude.
A . Time Synchronization
In Appendix A the distribution of the timing signal is
analyzed for the case of correct timing. It is shown that
the amplitude of the normalized timing signal,
(h[k,011 = ly[k, a ] l / ( L K 2 p o s ) , can be approximated as a
Gaussian variable with expectation
2 sequence and when the timing is wrong this probability is
,!?[[Ark, O]l] = sinc ( e , K / M )
and variance
0-7803-5435-4/99/$10.00
Q 1999 IEEE
var[lk[k, 0111 = o,sinc
2 2 (E,K/M)/(LKO,~). (5)
This approximation gives negligible probability of nega-
tive values, since the expected value is large compared to
the variance.
The distribution of the timing signal when the timing
(1) is wrong is analyzed in Appendix B. By wrong timing we
mean that there is no synchronization signal present and
that the synchronizer is fed by white Gaussian noise. It is
shown that the cumulative density function (CDF) of the
PN-based timing signal when the timing is wrong can be
approximated by
2 2 2 2
Fpl(a) 1 - 2 a K L o , / o n . k1(2aKLo,/on), (6)
where kl(x) is the first order modified Bessel function. In
Appendix B it is also shown that the CDF of the conven-
tional timing signal when the timing is wrong can be
regarded as Rayleigh distributed with CDF
(7)
(2) where the noise variance is given by
In Figure 3 (top) the CDFs of the PN-based and con-
ventional full-resolution timing signals are presented for
the case of correct and wrong timing, AWGN channel,
K=30, S N R 0 dB and no frequency-offset. It is obvious
that the false detection probability for the PN-based pre-
amble is much lower than for the conventional preamble.
By correlating samples before multiplication we decrease
the mean and variance of the timing signal when the tim-
ing is wrong. This means that it is possible to use a low
detection threshold without getting a large false detection
, probability.
B. Low-Resolution Operation
It is possible to have very low resolution in the synchro-
nizer when using the PN-based preamble. There is of
course a loss in performance, but if for example the
length of the preamble is extended it is possible to have a
sleep mode operation where the synchronizer uses only
one-bit resolution for time synchronization.
The synchronization unit then only consists of a threshold
detector, a K-input adder, a multiplier and a comparator.
The sync signal is still given by ( 3 ) , but the received sig-
nal can now only take the values r [ k ] = + l y . When only
the sign of the received signal is used then the receiver
does not have to compare the sync signal to the received
power, but it can use the numerical value directly. This of
course decreases the complexity. The distribution of the
timing signal when using the synchronizer with one-bit
resolution is analyzed in Appendix C. When the timing is
correct we have a certain (high) probability that the sign
of the received signal corresponds to the sign of the PN-
(4)
50%. The timing signal can in both cases be approxi-
2204 VTC '99

-e- wr. PN
correct
0 0.5 1 1.5
full-resolution timing signal
"0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
low-resolution timing signal
Figure 3: CDFs of the full-resolutionand low-resolutiontim-
ing signals. For the low-resolution signal we have a lower
and an upper bound for the distribution when the timing is
wrong. AWGN, SNR 0 dB and correlator length 30.
mated as a sum of products between binomially distrib-
uted values. In Figure 3 (bottom) we plot the CDF of the
low-resolution PN-based timing signal using the same
parameters as before. For wrong timing we show an
upper and a lower bound for the distribution. We see in
the plot that the low-resolution timing signal will work
well under these circumstances. The probability that the
timing signal is larger when the timing is wrong than
when it is correct is very small.
C. Receiver Operation Characteristics
For all the timing signals there is a relationship between
the probability of missing the sync signal and the proba-
bility of false detection, which is dependent on the cho-
sen detection threshold. We plot this relationship, the so-
called receiver operation characteristics, in Figure 4 for
the conventional and PN-based full-resolution sync sig-
nal and an upper and lower bound for the PN-based low-
resolution signal. As before, we use correlator length
K=30, AWGN channel and S N R 0 dB. We see in the fig-
ure that the full-resolution PN-based preamble gives
much better performance, compared to the conventional
preamble. The lower variance for the PN-based preamble
when the timing is wrong means that we can decrease the
10-81' I procedure can be used. The PN-sequence is repeated four
1o-'O 1o-@ 1o-6
false detection probability
Figure 4:Receiver operation characteristic for the conven-
tional and PN-based full-resolution timing signal and an
upper and lower bound for the low-resolutionPN-based tim-
ing signal. AWGN, SNR 0 dB, correlator length 30.
Q 1999 IEEE
07803-5435-4/99/$10.00
threshold for detection without having too many false
alarms. The low-resolution sync signal also results in
good detection performance, in AWGN channels it com-
petes well with the conventional full-resolution synchro-
nizer. In [3] a synchronizer based on the cyclic prefix
using an A/Dwith one bit quantization is analyzed. This
system is similar to conventional preamble synchroniza-
tion and they had approximately a 7-dB loss compared to
full-resolution conventional synchronization. Here the
performance of the low-resolution PN-based synchro-
nizer is actually better than the full resolution conven-
tional preamble.
D.Frequency-Offset Estimation
The frequency-offset estimate is given by the phase of the
synchronization signal when the correct timing is found.
The estimate is calculated as
E, = arg(h[k, 01) M / ( 2 7 c K ) .
' (9)
This phase increment method gives a (nearly) unbiased
frequency estimate of a complex exponential in white
noise [4] and can cope with frequency-offsets which are
smaller than /E,/ < M / ( ~ K .)
The variance of the normalized frequency estimate
can be calculated as [4]
2 2 3
var(i,. = M /(4n K L P ) (10)
The performance of the frequency-offset estimate is simi-
lar for the conventional and PN-based preamble. For low
S N R s the variance from the PN-based preamble is
slightly lower. The effective S N R is then high, so that the
second term in (10) can be neglected.
1V. Performance in Multipath Channels
The PN-based sync signal has a peak for each of the
resolvable channel taps in multipath channels. The syn-
chronizer can either use the largest peak, a sum of the
largest peaks or the sum of all peaks within the cyclic
prefix to find the correct timing. The peaks have nearly
the same phase and their amplitudes correspond to the
tap-power for each delay. In OFDM systems we want a
synchronization signal that has a peak when the largest
part of the channel impulse response is within the guard
interval. This is straightforward to achieve with a rectan-
gular window with the same length as the guard interval.
In Rayleigh fading channels, where the received
power has large fluctuations, a two-step synchronization
IO0 times such that the total preamble length becomes 4K+G
The first half is used for coarse time synchronization and
to adjust the AGC. Here the low-resolution synchronizer
is used, the received power is measured and the AGC is
properly adjusted. The second half is then used for fine
time synchronization and for frequency offset estimation.
2205 VTC '99
In this part the sync signal is normalized by the received
power.
In order to investigate the performance in multipath
channels we use a two-tap Rayleigh fading channel
where the two taps have equal mean power and the delay
between them is varied. The PN-based synchronizer can
resolve taps spaced one chip (i.e. two samples) apart. It is
important to be able to resolve the taps otherwise the per-
formance gets worse, especially the performance of the
frequency offset estimate. This is not a big issue for the
conventional synchronizer since it uses the power of all
received samples straight away. If the PN-based synchro-
nizer can not resolve the taps the conventional synchro-
nizer is a bit more robust than the PN-based one.
In Figure 5 we present the simulated receiver opera-
tion characteristic for the conventional, the PN-based
full-resolution and PN-based low-resolution timing sig-
nals. We here compare the timing signals when the timing
is correct and when the timing is wrong so that the input
to the synchronizer is noise only. The delay between the
taps is either 0 or 4 samples such that we get one or two
fully resolvable Rayleigh fading taps. The mean SNR is
10 dB and it is assumed that the channel is constant dur-
ing the whole preamble. The conventional preamble used
for comparison is a repeated 32 samples long OFDM sig-
nal designed to give good correlation properties in multi-
path channels. The PN-based synchronizer in this
example uses the largest peak and not a sum to find the
timing.
The PN-based preamble gives better detection perfor-
mance both for the one-tap and the tow-tap channel. The
reason is again that the mean amplitude is lower for the
PN-based timing signal when the timing is wrong. The
low-resolution synchronizer also performs well com-
pared to the conventional one. It also gives lower proba-
bility of false detection and lower probability of missing
the sync signal.
We evaluate the performance of the frequency-offset
estimate by comparing the standard deviation of the esti-
mation error. In Figure 6 the standard deviation is pre-
sented for different frequency offsets using the same
10-1 -a- - - - - -
- - _-e----
IO-^ IO-, IO-, 10-1 loo
false detection probability
Figure 5: Simulated receiver operation characteristics when
using the conventional synchronizer, the full-resolution PN-
based synchronizer and the low-resolution PN-based syn-
chronizer. Rayleigh fadmg channel with one or two resolv-
able taps, mean SNR 10 dB, correlator length 30.
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Q 1999 IEEE
0.01 --q--
IO-^ 1 0- lo- 1 oo
frequency offset
Figure 6: Simulated standard deviation of the frequency-off-
set estimation error for one (dashed) and two (solid) resolv-
able Rayleigh fading taps. Correlator length 30, mean SNR
10 and 20 dB.
parameters as in figure 5. It should be noted that also in
this example only the maximum peak is used for estima-
tion. A slightly lower standard deviation for the PN-
based preamble is achieved by using more peaks. The
performance is similar for both preambles. The simula-
tions show that the standard deviation is in principle inde-
pendent of the actual frequency offset as long as it is
within the permitted range. Simulations also show that
outliers caused by fading dips dominate the standard
deviation.
V. Conclusions
We have presented and analyzed a technique for OFDM
synchronization based on PN-sequence preambles. The
known PN-based preamble makes it possible to sum
received samples coherently before multiplying them. In
this way it is possible to decrease the influence from
noise or interference when the timing is wrong. A lower
detection threshold can therefore be used, which results
in better detection performance, i.e. a lower false detec-
tion probability and a lower probability of missing the
sync signal. The peak-to-average power ratio for the PN-
based preamble is low and the it results in a sharp syn-
chronization peak, as opposed to conventional preambles
based on repeated OFDM symbols. For frequency offset
estimation both preambles result in similar performance.
The frequency-offset estimate from PN-based preambles
is, however, less robust compared to conventional pream-
bles when the channel paths can not be resolved. Syn-
chronization based on PN-sequence preambles offers
great power reductions in stand-by mode. Using the
method it is possible to use an A/D with only one-bit res-
olution in stand-by mode. The low-resolution sync signal
is independent of the received power and therefore a
coarse time sync signal can be calculated at the same time
as the AGC level is set.
Appendix A. Distribution, Correct Timing
In this appendix we analyze the distribution of the timing
signal when the timing is correct, i.e. when a=O and there
is no slip between the two PN-se uences. We normalize
the sub-correlator signal by ,/*: and assume that
2206 VTC 99
\E,\ < M / ( 2 K ) . The normalized correlator output, q [ k , 01 ,is
given by [5]
r[k,01
& K 27T&
= ($sinc(*)exp(j-$(k+i))
Define ZnPhase as the phase of the timing signal,
ZnPhase=arg(q[k,O ] q * [ k - K , 0 ] ) = 2 n e , M / K , in the same
way as in [ 2 ] . For reasonable S N R values the noise-
times-noise product can be neglected
ZnPhase(h[k,01) >>Quadrature{k[k,01) . The amplitude
can therefore be approximated by the ZnPhase compo-
nent, i.e.
Ih[k,0]1=(i)sinc 2 ECK(z
+)
ZnPhase
{ nq[k, O](sinc($) exp(-j 27T&,(kM+
+ (isinc($) exp(j 27T&,(kM+ 1/ 2 ) ) )
Ih[k,011 can now be regarded as Gaussian with mean
E [ l h [ k ,O]l] = sinc(&,K/M)/L,
and variance
2 . 2
var(lh[k,011) = (5,sinc (&,K/M)/(LKo,).
The distribution of the conventional timing signal
when the timing is correct is similar to the PN-based one,
but there is no loss due to the phase rotation. Therefore,
we have unity mean for the conventional preamble,
, = 1 ,and variance var(h,,,,[k, 01) = O ; / ( L K O : ) .
~ [ h , , , , [ k011
Appendix B. Distribution, Wrong Timing
In this appendix we evaluate the distribution of the timing
signal when there is no synchronization signal present
and the synchronizer is fed by white Gaussian noise. The
normalized complex outputs of the sub-correlators have
zero mean and variance 0:- = O : / ( K L G : ) . The PN-based
timing signal can be rewritten as
Ih[kaII = I ~ , [ k - ~ ~ , a l l l ~ , [ k - ( 1 + P ) K ,(15)
Since the terms are the amplitude of a complex Gaussian
they are Rayleigh distributed. By using the transforma-
tion theorem on the joint distribution of the two terms the
PDF of the product ( 1 5 ) can be calculated as
uqll b=O ( Receivers, John Wiley & Sons, New York, U.S.A, 1998.
where k&) denotes the zeroth order modified Bessel
function. The CDF ( 6 ) is then calculated by integration.
The conventional timing signal consists of a sum of L
0-7803-5435-4/99/$10.M)0 1999 IEEE
sample products. If the length of the preamble is large the
distribution of the real and the imaginary part of the tim-
ing signal (the sum) can be approximated as Gaussian.
(11) R e ( h c O n v }and Zm{hcOnv}both have zero mean and a
variance given by (8). The normalized conventional tim-
+nq[k,Ol. ing signal can therefore be regarded as Rayleigh distrib-
uted with CDF given by ( 7 ) .
Appendix C. Distribution, Low-Resolution
and In this section we analyze the distribution of the timing
signal when the synchronizer is used with only one-bit
input resolution. The probability that the sign of the
received signal is equal to the corresponding sign in the
PN-sequence is, for the I-channel and the Q-channel
respectively, given by
1/29
PI,equal = 1 - Q (7)2 ~ 0 sC P ( O , / O , )
(17)
PQ,equal = 1 - Q( d m ) )
where cp is the phase difference between the received
PN-sequence and the local PN-sequence. When the tim-
ing is wrong the input can be seen as random and this
(13) probability is Pequa1=~0%. The correlator adds all the
equal and unequal samples so that both the complex parts
of the correlator output have a binomial distribution,
2
(14)
W , E Bin(K, P I , . For small frequency offsets and cor-
rect timing the real part of the sync signal is much larger
than the imaginary part, so the absolute value can be
approximated by the real part only. For larger frequency
offsets we have a similar distribution, but the signal is not
dominated by the real part. When the timing is wrong
none of the parts dominate and the CDF of the amplitude
is upper bounded by f i times the CDF of the real part
itself. The probability function of the products is calcu-
lated by adding all the probabilities for values resulting in
a certain product and the probability function of the sums
is then achieved by convolution.
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