Frequency offset and timing estimation in slowly-varying fading channels: a cyclostationary approach

Two open-loop algorithms are developed for estimating jointly frequency offset and symbol timing of a linearly modulated waveform transmitted over a frequency-flat fading channel. The methods exploit the received signal´s cyclostationarity, and with respect to existing solutions they: (i) take into account the presence of time-selective fading effects; (ii) do not need training data; (iii) do not rely on the Gaussian assumption of the complex equivalent low-pass channel process, and (iv) are tolerant to additive stationary noise of any color or distribution. Performance analysis using Monte Carlo simulations, unifications, and comparisons with existing approaches are also reported.