Orthogonal frequency division multiplex synchronization techniques for frequency-selective fading channels

The effect of time-domain and frequency-domain synchronization errors is quantified in the context of various coherently and noncoherently detected 1, 2, and 4 bits/symbol OFDM constellations, in order to demonstrate the wide applicability of the techniques proposed for mitigating the bit error rate (BER) performance degradations inflicted. A reference symbol is proposed and a range of correlation techniques are suggested for coarse and fine synchronization. Their performance is studied over time-dispersive Rayleigh fading channels, with the conclusion that the proposed synchronization techniques result in virtually unimpaired BERs over the range of wideband channels investigated in comparison to a perfectly synchronized system.