Chapter 9:

Synchronization
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2011.11
Synchronization
Synchronization is one of the most critical functions performed at the
receiver of a synchronous communication system. To some extent, it is the
basis of a synchronous communication system.

Carrier synchronization

Symbol/Bit synchronization

Frame synchronization
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Synchronization

Carrier synchronization
To recover the sinal !ithout distortion, receiver needs
to estimate and compensate for fre"uency and phase
differences bet!een a received sinal#s carrier !ave and the
receiver#s local oscillator for the purpose of coherent
demodulation.
As to digital communication system,
symbol/bit synchronization and frame
synchronization are also required.
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Frame synchronization
$eceiver can proceed by every roup of symbols instead of every
sinle symbol, such as a frame in T%& system. Similar !ith symbol/bit
synchronization, the process of extractin such a cloc' sinal is called
frame synchronization.

Symbol/bit synchronization
The output of the receivin filter must be sampled at the symbol
rate and at the precise samplin time instants. (ence, !e re"uire a cloc'
sinal. The process of extractin such a cloc' sinal at the receiver is
called symbol/bit synchronization.
Synchronization
Synchronization
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The synchronized system required:
Synchronous sinal must have hih noise immunity and be reliable.

)eneratin synchronous sinal should not consume much extra po!er and
increase implementation complexity.

Synchronous sinal should possess fe! channel resource.

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*++ is a feedbac' loop !ith a voltae,controlled oscillator -.C/0, a
phase detector -*%0and a loop filter -+F0. The *% !ill enerate the phase
difference of v
i
-t0 and v
o
-t0. The .C/ !ill ad1ust the oscillator fre"uency based
on this phase difference to eliminate the phase difference. 2t steady state, the
output fre"uency !ill be exactly the same !ith the input fre"uency.
hase!loc"ed #oo$
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hase!loc"ed #oo$
03 - cos4 0 -
03 - sin4 0 -
5
5
t t v t v
t t v t v
o o
i i

+
+


0 - sin 6 03 - 0 - sin4 6 0 - t t t t v
e d d d


+oop filter is also a +*F. 2ctive/passive *7 filter are most commonly
used.
2 *% contains a multiplexer and a lo!pass filter. The +*F is for filterin
the extra fre"uency component enerated by multiplexin. The output voltae
is8
0 - 0 - 0 - t v p F t v
d c

dt
d
p
The output of the +F is8

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hase!loc"ed #oo$
0 - 6
0 -
t v
dt
t d
c v

The output of .C/ can be a sinusoid or a periodic impulse train. The

differentiation of the output fre"uency are larely proportional to the input
voltae.
7f F-p09: Then
0 - sin 6
0 -
t
dt
t d
e

This 'ind of loop is called the first,order loop

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hase!loc"ed #oo$
7n a coherence system, a *++ is used for8
:. *++ can trac' the input fre"uency and enerate the output sinal !ith
small phase difference.
;. *++ has the character of narro!band filterin !hich can eliminate the
noise introduced by modulation and reduce the additive noise.
<. &emory *++ can sustain the coherence state for enouh time.
C&/S,based interated *++ has several advantaes such as ease of
modification, reliable and lo! po!er consumption, therefore are !idely
used in coherence system.
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%arrier Synchronization
To extract the carrier
:. *ilot,tone insertion method
Sendin a carrier component at specific spectral,line alon !ith the sinal
component. Since the inserted carrier component has hih fre"uency stability,
it is called pilot.
;. %irect extraction method
%irectly extract the synchronization information from the received
sinal component.
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Pilot-tone insertion method
&odulator
'and$a
ss
filter
Add
s(t
)
*(t
)
/+$has
e shift
!asin(
c
t)
cos(
c
t)
:. *ilot,tone insertion method
insert pilot to the modulated sinal
( ) ( )
cos sin
c c
s t f t t a t
Thin"ing
,hy -.
.
shift
The pilot sinal is enerated by shift the carrier by =5
5
and decrease by several
dB, then add to the modulated sinal. 2ssume the modulated sinal has 5 %C
component, then the pilot is
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/(f)
f
*
. f
S(f)
.
f
c f
c
!f
*
f
c
0f
*
Pilot-tone insertion method
The receiver uses a narro!band filter !ith central fre"uency f
c
to extract the
pilot and then the carrier can be enerated by simply
shiftin =5
5
.
sin
c
a t
cos
c
a t
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( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
;
:
5
cos cos sin cos
: : :
cos; sin;
; ; ;
:
s
;
c c c c
c c
s t s t t f t t a t t
f t f t t a t
After the LPF t f t



+

Pilot-tone insertion method

%SB, SSB and *S6 are all capable of pilot,tone insertion method. .SB can
also apply pilot,tone insertion method but it is more complex.
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Narrowband Filter
The dra!bac' of narro!band filter8

The pass band is not narro! enouh

f
c
is fixed, do not tolerate any fre"uency drift !ith respect to the central
fre"uency

Can be replaced by *++

*ilot,tone insertion method is suitable for %SB, SSB, .S and ;*S6
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Direct extraction method
+. %irect extraction method

1).7f the spectrum of the received sinal already contains carrier
component, then the carrier component can be extracted simply by a
narro!band filter or a *++.
+).7f the modulated sinal already eliminates the carrier component,
then the carrier component can be extracted by performin nonlinear
transformation or usin a *++ !ith specific desin.
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2onlinear!transformation!based method
:. Square transformation
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
; ; ;
; ;
;
>xample a %SB sinal cos
: :
s cos;
; ;
: :
;
c
c
m
s t f t t
If f t s t does not have carrier component
t f t f t t
now f t f t f t
then s t

+
+
+

has 0 DC componentthen
square transformation:
contains DC component,let it be so
( )
: :
cos; - 0 cos;
; ; ;
m c m c
f t t f t t + +
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2onlinear!transformation!based method
( ) ( ) t t f t t f t s
c m c m
; cos 0 -
;
:
; cos
;
:
;
:
;
:
;
+ + +
;
;
c
c

The first term is the DC component. The second term is the low
frequency component. The third term is the component. The
th term is the frequency component symmetrical distributed of
!modulation noise. "fter narrowband filterin#, only the $rd
term and a small fraction of th term left, then the carrier
component can be e%tracted by frequency di&ision.
'ince the carrier is e%tracted by freq
o
uency di&ision, its phase
may shift by ()0 . *esides, modulation noise may cause random
phase +itter.
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2onlinear!transformation!based method
S"uare *++
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3n!$hase orthogonal loo$4%ostas #oo$
+. 7n,phase orthoonal loop ?Costas +oop
%ontains in!$hase branch and orthogonal branch.
All $arts e*ce$t #5 and 6%7 are similar 8ith a 9$hase
detector:.
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( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
:
:
+et s cos
:
: :
cos sin sin sin ;
; ;
:
2fter +*F sin
;
:
;
-
c
c c e e c e
e
e
e e
t f t t
f t t t f t f t t
r t f t
When r t f t

+ + +

,-upper branch
is the phase difference between #enerated carrier and the ori#inal carrier
is small
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
;
;
;
;0
: :
cos
; ;
:
-<0 - 0
@
e
1 e d
r t f t f t
r t r t f t v t

lower branch
3n!$hase orthogonal loo$4%ostas #oo$
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3n!$hase orthogonal loo$4%ostas #oo$
( ) ( )
c
;
:.Costas loop !or's on instead of ; so !hen f is lare
Costas loop is easier to realize
;.The output of in,phase loop r is the sinal f
c c
f f
t t
"d&anta#es of Costas loop

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erformance
;. *erformance of carrier synchronization
techni"ue

:0 *hase error8 steady,state phase error, random phase error
;0 Synchronization build time and hold time
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erformance
5
c
:. steady,state phase error
-:0 Aarro!band filter is a simple sinle tuned loop !ith a fixed
B value. Chen the central fre"uency D is not e"ual to the carrier
fre"uency D, steady,state phase error
e

5
5
5
5
5
is arose.
+et
Chen ED is small
; B
-;0 hen *++ is applied8
is the %C ain of the *++ circuit. 2pparently, can have a
very small value as lon as is lare enouh.
c
e
Q
W
k
k
k

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;. $andom phase error
2ssume )aussian random noise is the case, !e already 'no! !hen SA$ is hih
-SA$FF:0, the phase distribution of the sum of a sinusoid sinal and a aussian noise
passed throuh a na
( )
( )
;
;
rro!band system is a aussian distribution.
+et -50 5, then8

:
!ith 5 !e use to assess the random phase error.
;
:
random phase 1itter
;
d
d
f e
f mean
d
d

erformance
2011.11
erformance
5
5 5
5 5
5 5
>xample Aarro!band filter is a sinle tuned loop.
The e"uivalent noise band!idth8
;
+et the noiseGs sinle,sideband *S% is A then the noise po!er is
;

:
then
;
n
n n
S s
n
f
B
Q
P N B
P P Q
d
P N f
N f
d

@
2pparently B , .
Based on above discussion, !e can see there is a trade,off bet!een minimize the
steady,state phase error and the random phase error.
S
QP

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<. Synchronization build time and hold time
>xample8 usin sinle tuned loop to realize narro!band filterin
U
kU
ts
tc
t
erformance
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erformance
( ) ( )
( )
( )
5 5
5 5
5
5 5
-:0 Chen t 5 the output voltae is8
: cos
; is the resonant fre"uency
Chen synchronization is build !hen the amplitude oes to 5 :
2s8 6 :
: :
So ln syn
:
s
t
S
t
s
u t u e t
Q
t t Ku K
u u e
t
k

< <

!! chronization build time

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erformance
( )
5
c 5
-;0 Chen synchronization is build, cut off the input sinal at 5, then the output is8
cos
Chen synchronization is hold until the amplitude decreases to
2s 6H H
: :
ln
s
t
t
c
t
u t Ue t
t t Ku
e
So t
k

!!synchronization hold time

2011.11
erformance
7n practice, !e !ant , . (o!ever, !hen B , , both and ,
vice versa. Therefore, !e need consider both factors !hen desinin the parameters.
Chen usin *++, t is the loc' time, t is th
s c s c
s c
t t t t
e hold time. Their values depend on
the parameters of circuits. Similarly, there is also a conflict !hen pic'in parameters.
(o!ever, !e can chane the parameters after loc' is build, therefore let t
s
and .
c
t
: :
ln
:
s
t
k

: :
ln
c
t
k

5
;Q
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Symbol Synchronization

In a digital communication system, the outut o! the recei"ing

!ilter must be samled eriodically at the symbol rate and at the
recise samling time instance.

#o er!orm this eriodic samling, we need a cloc$ signal at the

recei"er

#he rocess o! extracting such a cloc$ signal is called symbol

synchroni%ation or timing reco"ery

&ne method is !or the transmitter to simultaneously transmit the

cloc$ !re'uency along with the in!ormation signal. #he recei"e can
simly emloy a narrowband !ilter or P(( to extract it. #his
method re'uires extra ower and bandwidth and hence, but
!re'uently used in telehone transmission systems.

)nother method is to extract the cloc$ signal !rom the recei"ed

data signal by using some $ind o! non-linear trans!ormation.
*arly-(ate +ate ,ynchroni%ation

-asis Idea. exloit the symmetry roerties o! the outut

signal o! matched !ilter or correlator
200/.00 ./0123. 45678

Due to the symmetry, the "alues o! the

correlation !unction at the early samles
and the late samles are e'ual.

#hus, the roer samling time is the midoint

between and
./0123. 45678
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2onlinear!transformation!based
method
:. Aonlinear,transformation,based method
Some transformations can add synchronous sinal !ith f9:/T to the
oriinal sinal. For example, !e can transform the sinal to return,to,zero
!aveform. 2fter narro!band filterin and phase shiftin, !e can enerate
the cloc' sinal used for synchronization.
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<igital ## (<##)
+. <##
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<igital ## (<##)
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erformance
( ) rad n
e
;
<. *erformance of symbol synchronization system
?%*++
:0. *hase error
The phase error occurs because of for a %*++, the phase cannot
chane !ith arbitrary small value, each time the phase can only be
modified by ;I/n n is the fre"uency division number .
Therefore the maximum of phase error is8
( ) s n
! e

7n time domain, it is8
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;. Synchronization build time
Synchronization build time is the maximum period from the system lost synchronization
to the system bac' to synchronization state.
The maximum delay bet!een the synchron
s
t
ous impulse and the received sinal is ;
>ach time the %*++ can only modify the phase by ; so synchronization is build after
A times
;
;
The *%++ can only modify the phase !hen the receive
!
!
!
!

n
n
N
n

.

d code crosses zero point.

2s to random binary code, !e can approximately thin' G5:G G:5G G::G G 55G appears !ith
same probability. Therefore, the code !ill cross zero point !ith probability 5.J. Thus
a

modification happens each ; seconds.
Synchronization build time is
;
!
s ! !

t N n

erformance
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<. Synchronization hold time
7f the input sinal is interrupted after synchronization is build, since there is a
fre"uency difference bet!een the transmitter and the receiver, the phase of
c
t
F the
synchronous sinal !ill 'eep driftin. Ce consider the system is not synchronous
any more if the phase is drifted by a centain value. This period is called synchronization
hold time.
7f the transm
: ;
: ;
; :
: ; ;
: ; : ; 5
5 : ; 5 5
5 : ;
5
: ;
5 5
: :
itter and the receiver have T and separatively then
: :

F and :
7t can also be !ritten as

F F
F F
F

F F F F F
F F F
F
F
F
F
F

erformance
2011.11
: ;
5 5
Chen fre"uency difference exists the phase !ill drifted by after every
7f the system can only allo! the drift to be as lare as - is relevant !ith 0,
then !e can calculate the synchr
F
K K Pe

.
5
5
c
onization hold time as8

:
t
7f fixed then the system re"uires to be8
:

7f the oscillators in transmitter and receiver have the same
c
c
c
c
t
k F
t F
F k
t F
F
t k

5 5
stability, then the stability
should not belo!8
:

; ;
c
F
F t kF

t
erformance
2011.11
: ; 5
;
5 5
@. Synchronous band!idth
ynchronous band!idth is the rane of .
The drift occurs durin one symbol interval is
2s mentioned, the %*++ modifies the phase every ; symbol
s
f
S F
F F

F F

5
5
;
5 5 5
5
5
s. >ach time spends
seconds. To mentain synchronazation, obviously !e need8
: :

; ; ;
;
!hen F !e have8
;
s
!
! s
n
F

n nF F nF
F
f F
n
f
f f
n

,
erformance
2011.11
erformance
7n %*++, fre"uency division number n !ill affect and so n must be selected
properly to let satisfies the systemGs re"uirement and let ,
e s
e s c s
f
t t f

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Frame Synchronization
2s mentioned, carrier synchronization and symbol
synchronization needs to estimate the phase of synchronous sinal
!hich can be realized by usin a *++. Frame synchronization is
realized in a different !ay??insertin frame alinment sinal
-distinctive bit se"uence0. Therefore, the basic tas' of frame
synchronization is ho! to detect the alinment symbol.
Besides add frame alinment bits, some code such as self,
synchronizin code can be synchronized !ithout addin extra bits. 7n
this section, !e only focus on the first method ??insertin frame
alinment sinal.
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Frame Synchronization

Bunched frame alinment sinal

%istributed frame alinment sinal

Start!sto$ &ethod
:. Start,stop method
7t is !idely used in teleprinter. >ach symbol contains J,K data bits, a start bit and
a stop bit.
start bit L5L !idth
stop bit8 L:L, !idth
System !ill 'eep sendin stop bit !hen it is idle. Chen L:L L5L, the receiver !ill
start to receive a data symbol.
!
!

Drawbacks:
:0. +o! transport efficiency
;0. +o! precision of timin
Start!sto$ &ethod
Bunched frame alinment sinal
+. Bunched frame alinment sinal
This method inserts synchronous code at a particular place in
each frame. The code should have a sharp self,correlation function.
The detector should be simple to implement.
Frame synchronization code8 Bar'er code, optimal synchronous
code and pseudo,random code.
( )
{ }
( )
: ; <
:
: Bar'er code
2 n bits bar'er code , , , its self,correlation function
satisfies
5
5or : 5
5
n i
n "
# i i "
i
# # # # #
n "
$ " # # " n

t < <

9:( or ;(.

Bar'er code is not a periodic se"uence. 7t is proved that !hen :;:55, !e can only
find bar'er code !ith ;, <, @, J, M,::,:<.
" n
n
n

'

<

-ar$er 1ode
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n barker code
; N N
< N N ,
@ N N N , N N , N
J N N N , N
M N N N , , N ,
:: N N N , , , N , , N ,
:< N N N N , , N N , N , N
-ar$er 1ode
2011.11
( )
( )
: : ; ; M M
: ; ; <
>xample 2 bar'er code !ith M find its self,correlation function
5 8 5 M
:8 : 5
Similarly, !e can determine .
The result is sho!n belo!, !e can see it has a shar
#
#
#
n
" $ # # # # # #
" $ # # # #
$

+ + +
+ +

<+=
p pea' !hen 1 5.
-ar$er 1ode
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-;0 Bar'er code enerator
?shift reister
>xample !hen n9M, a M bits shift reister. The initial state is a bar'er code.
-ar$er 1ode
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(;) 'ar"er code detector
-ar$er 1ode
2011.11
:
8 L:L
:
:
8 L5L
:
7f the output connection of the shift reister is the same !ith a bar'er code then
input
input
+
'

'
+

The bar>er code detector follows:

output ?(?:@A
output ?0?:@A
output ?(?:@A
output ?0?:@A

!hen the input is a bar'er code, the output of the shift reister is L:::::::L. The
detector !ill send a synchronous impulse.
-ar$er 1ode
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%istributed frame alinment sinal
;. %istributed frame alinment sinal
The synchronous code is distributed in the data sinal. That means
bet!een each n bits, a synchronous bit is inserted.
(o! to desin synchronous code8
:. >asy to detect. For example8 O::::::::Por P:5:5:5:5P
;. >asy to separate synchronous code and data code. For example8 7n some
diital telephone system all P5P stands for rin, so synchronous code can
only use O:5:5:5:5P.
To determine the synchronous code, receiver need to detect the code bit by
bit. )enerally, the code can be detected by shiftin the sinal code by code.
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%istributed frame alinment sinal
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>xample data code is all O5P synchronous code is allO:P
The synchronous code is enerated by fre"uency division -A9@0of the
symbol synchronous impulse -a0. 7n practical system, the local code -d0 !ill
not be exact the same !ith -c0.Therefore, the output of the Q/$ ate !ill
have nonzero !aveform -e0. 2fter one bit delay -f0, the exclusion ate !ill
discard one symbol synchronous impulse -b0. By repeatin this procedure,
finally -d0 and -c0 !ill be exactly the same, frame synchronization is realized.
%istributed frame alinment sinal
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erformance
erformance of frame synchronization system
4Bunched frame alinment sinal
:. *robability of missin synchronization
#
2ffected by noise, the detector may not be able to detect the
synchronous code. The probability of this situation is called probability of
missin synchronization *
+
.

2ssume the lenth of synchronous code is n bit error rate is *e. The
detector !ill not be able to detect if more than m bit errors happen, then8
( )
5
: :
m
n #
# #
L n e e
#
P % P P

2011.11
+. *robability of false synchronization
5
Since data code can be arbitrary, it may be the same !ith synchronous
code. The probability of this situation is called probability of false synchronization
*
F
.
*
F
e"uals to the probability of appearance of synchronous code in the data code.
a. 7n a binary code, assume 5 and : appears !ith the same probability. There are ;
n

combinations of a n bit code.
b. 2ssume !hen there are more than m bit errors, the data code !ill also be detected
as synchronous code.
erformance
5
:
Chen 5 only :- 0 code !ill be detected as synchronous code
Chen : there are codes !ill be detected as synchronous codeR
......
Therefore the probability of false synchronization is8
n
n
#
n
#
F
m %
m %
%
P

m
5
5
:
; ;
m
n
#
n
n
#
%

2011.11
erformance
+ + F
* and * depends on the lenth of synchronous code n and the maximum bit error m.
Chen n , * * !hen m , * *
L F
F
B
2011.11
s
+
<. 2verae build time t
2ssume both * and * !ill not happen the !orst case is !e need one frame to
build frame synchronization. 2ssume each frame contains A bits, each bit has a !idth
T , then one f
F
!

( )
b
b
:
s
rame costs AT .
Ao! assume a missin synchronization or a flase synchronization also needs AT
to rebuild the synchronization, then8
:
Bisedes, the averae build time of usin the dis
! L F
t N P P + +
( )
; ;
: ;
s
tributed frame alinment sinal is8
:
2pparently, , so the previous method is more !idely used.
s !
s
t N N
t t
>>
<
erformance