Multiuser code acquisition in DS/CDMA systems

A multiuser code acquisition system based on interference cancellation (IC) is proposed for the reverse link of the base station of direct sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) systems. Explicit expressions for the variance and density function of the correlator output are derived incorporating data and timing estimation errors. Consequently, a threshold rule based on a posteriori probability can be applied which guarantees beforehand an upper bound on acquisition error probability, a very important system performance criterion. Computer simulation results show that acquisition error probability is below the upper limit; system capacity and mean acquisition time performance are also promising.