A blind symbol synchronization algorithm using adaptive equalizers

In this paper the problem of synchronization of data blocks between the transmitter and receiver is discussed, and a solution is described for blind synchronization by using a blind channel estimator. In earlier work, a blind wideband channel estimation algorithm for multipath channels was introduced, which is based on the second order statistics of the received signals. For that blind equalization and channel estimation method, a blind synchronization algorithm was needed. This paper describes a windowing method, which uses the estimated channel taps to calculate the delay between transmitter and the receiver unit. The channel vector is determined, and the significant values of the channel entries are located to determine the relative shift between the input and output. This is then used to provide synchronization at the receiver. Simulation results show the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed synchronization algorithm.