The evaluation of phase acquisition for coherent frequency hopped communication systems

The authors identify a new limiting factor, hop timing error, in regard to the phase coherence for coherent frequency hopped spread spectrum (C-FHSS) communications. A phase-lock system model and the Fokker-Planck equation are applied to examine the phase acquisition process for every hop. The acquisition time in certain cases, including the worst cast, is obtained for evaluating whether the C-FHSS system is practical. The relationship between the system error performance and the acquisition time is established through the phase error tolerance bound. It is shown that the hopping rate is substantially restricted by the acquisition time