A new timing metric for timing error estimation in OFDM

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a bandwidth efficient modulation scheme used widely for high speed data communication. In OFDM system, intersymbol interference (ISI) and intercarrier interference (ICI) occur due to synchronization errors. Fast, simple and robust synchronization algorithms are necessary for OFDM systems. In this paper, a simple and robust algorithm for timing synchronization is proposed. In OFDM downlink transmission, every terminal perform synchronization by exploiting reference symbols called training symbols of received frame. Proposed timing synchronization algorithm is based on use of reference symbol. Performance analysis shows that the proposed timing offset estimator have better performance despite being simple. Performance is studied over AWGN and time-dispersive multipath Rayleigh fading channel with the conclusion that the proposed synchronization technique result in better performance with respect to all the parameters.