Improved symbol timing synchronization algorithms for SC-FDE systems

Symbol timing synchronization is a key technology for SC-FDE (Single Carrier Frequency Domain Equalization) systems. The traditional Schmidl & Cox´s and Minn´s algorithms have some shortcoming on the existence of timing metric plateau and redundant peaks. To overcome these shortcomings, two symbol timing synchronization algorithms based on a novel structure of training symbol are proposed for SC-FDE systems in this paper. The proposed methods can take advantage of the correlations of the four parts of the training symbol to efficiently improve the accuracy of timing synchronization and the anti-multipath capability. The simulation results confirm that the performances of the proposed algorithms are superior to Minn´s algorithm in AWGN channel and 3GPP Vehicular A channel.