Initial acquisition performance of a transform domain communication system: modeling and simulation results

Initial acquisition performance of a transform domain communication system (TDCS) is characterized via modeling and simulation (M&S). A TDCS with interference suppression capability differs from typical spread spectrum systems in two primary ways. 1) spectrally crowded regions are avoided via adaptive spectral notching, and 2) no carrier modulation is employed. Thus, minimal signal structure exists for synchronization purposes. Initial TDCS acquisition performance is investigated for various synchronization codewards and several acquisition methods, e.g., direct time correlation (DTC) and German´s technique, using both peak and threshold detection techniques. IMATLAB(R) simulation results indicate that a TDCS can achieve a high probability of detection (P_d>0.9) for relatively low input signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), as low as -23 dB for peak detection and -21 dB for threshold detection. Extensive computer simulations and subsequent analysis indicates that a TDCS can adequately acquire and accurately align a locally generated reference waveform with the received noise-like TDCS signal