A Stable Rapid Timing Synchronization Scheme for Impulse Radio UWB

Rapid synchronization acquisition is one of the biggest challenges of burst-mode transmission for ultra-wide band (UWB) wireless communications, especially for the impulse radio UWB (IR-UWB) due to the very short duration of the monopulse. Some rapid synchronization acquisition schemes have been proposed in the literature to reduce the mean acquisition time. However, most of them have no stability, i.e., when the delay time of arrive (TOA) for the transmitted signals becomes larger, the mean acquisition time will increase linearly. In this paper, a stable and rapid synchronization acquisition, namely selective bit reversal block search (SBRBS), is presented. The algorithm takes full advantage of the bit reversal technique, which can keep the maximum interval between the two neighboring uncertain search points to improve the detection probability and achieve a smallest search terminating time every four consecutive search points. The paper analyzes the stability of the proposed scheme in detail and makes comparison with other algorithms. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms others in term of reduced synchronization acquisition time and increased stability.