Packet acquisition for time-frequency hopped random multiple access

This paper investigates packet acquisition in a random multiple access (RMA) environment. An analytical approach to performance evaluation is provided, which enables the waveform designer to set design parameters quickly such that the required performance is achieved without over-design. RMA is a medium access methodology used for time-frequency hopped signaling and has been widely considered in the literature for mobile ad-hoc networking. It has a number of desirable characteristics, including low latency, frequency diversity and robustness against undesirable interferences. However, a major difficulty exists: in order to demodulate a packet, the receiver must first determine its arrival time. The difficulty is exacerbated with multiple access interference, a situation for which the receiver performance has not been well quantified. To illustrate the accuracy of the analytical results, simulations are performed over a wide range of design parameters, e.g., the pulse length, pulse duty factor and the number of synchronization pulses, and various operation-time variables such as the number of users and the relative power levels of the signal, interference, and noise.