A novel multipath searcher implementation for WCDMA receivers

A wideband signal experiences frequency selective fading due to multipath propagation. The multipath searcher must identify the delayed versions of the transmitted signal with low probability of false alarm and misdetection. This paper presents an efficient and novel multipath searcher algorithm and a VLSI architecture that provides a good compromise between complexity, performance, and power consumption. Novel techniques such as time domain interleaving and peak detection are presented.