Design and implementation of initial cell search in 5G NR systems

The initial cell search plays an important role during the process of downlink synchronization establishment between the User Equipment (UE) and the base station. In particular, the uncertainty of the synchronization signals on the frequency domain and the flexibility of frame structure configuration have brought great challenges to the initial cell search for the fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR). To solve this problem, firstly, we analyze the physical layer frame structure of 5G NR systems. Then, by focusing on the knowledge of synchronization signals, the 5G NR cell search process is designed, and the primary synchronization signal (PSS) timing synchronization algorithm is proposed, including a 5G-based coarse synchronization algorithm and conjugate symmetry-based fine synchronization algorithm. Finally, the performance of the proposed cell search algorithm in 5G NR systems is verified through the combination of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and personal computer (PC). And the MATLAB simulation proves that the proposed algorithm has better performance than the conventional cross-correlation algorithm when a certain frequency offset exists.