Frame synchronization of turbo coded systems using a list-synchronization technique

This paper proposes a decoder-assisted frame synchronization methodology for turbo-coded systems using the list-synchronization principle, where the first synchronizer provides a list of potential packet starting positions, and the following synchronizer makes the final decision. The list-synchronization method is composed of a decoder-assisted synchronizer and a standard synchronizer. Several configurations of these concatenated synchronization schemes are introduced for resolving shorter or longer packet delays, where the sync word is encoded with a data packet. The decoder-assisted synchronization module accepts soft-decision feedback from the decoder. The performance of these synchronizers evaluated via simulation.