Cell search evaluation: A step towards the next generation LTE-MTC systems

The main features for future Machine Type Communication (MTC) cellular networks enable low-power, low-cost, narrow band, and extended coverage system. To support these features, new challenges for the system design have emerged. For instance, the device shall be able to setup a call at a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of -15dB in the extended coverage mode with only one receive antenna and almost no frequency diversity. For these reasons, we present an evaluation to the conventional cell search and initial synchronization algorithms subject to these new hard requirements. The performance of most of the algorithms can be enhanced by utilizing time averaging on the account of increasing the processing time. By simulating exact LTE-MTC system, the performance of various algorithms is obtained with the expected time budget to meet LTE-MTC specifications, if applicable.