Symbol synchronization for multichannel frequency diversity transmission over fading channels

We analyze the jitter performance of an approximate decision direct (DD) maximum likelihood (ML) symbol synchronizer for multichannel modulation schemes employing shift orthogonal shaping pulses with overlapping spectra to achieve frequency diversity over fading channels. The ML timing estimator uses the timing information available from all the orthogonal subchannels. We derive expressions for the jitter variance, we analytically study the effect of the splitting sequences used to generate the different channels on the timing jitter variance, and provide criteria for selection of suitable splitting sequences. A possible implementation of the multichannel synchronizer is also presented