Frame-Timing Acquisition for UWB Signals Via the Multifamily Likelihood Ratio Test

This paper addresses the problem of maximum likelihood frame-timing acquisition for UWB signals when neither the transmitted symbols nor the transmitted waveform are known at the receiver. The main contribution is the interpretation of the maximum likelihood cost function as a problem of model order selection. As a result, a reduced complexity frame-timing estimator is proposed based on the multifamily likelihood ratio test. While still outperforming existing frame-timing acquisition techniques, the proposed method provides a tradeoff between performance and implementation complexity with respect to the more complex and optimal maximum likelihood solution