Packet acquisition in upstream transmission of the DOCSIS standard

In upstream transmission of the DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) 1.0/1.1 and the TDMA mode of DOCSIS 2.0 standard, a packet begins with a preamble, the length and value of which are programmable by the headend. The acquisition process includes packet detection, symbol timing estimation, carrier frequency offset estimation and carrier phase estimation by means of the preamble so that the following information packet can be correctly demodulated. Methods to solve these tasks are not subject to standardization and are left to the system designer. However, they have a great impact on the system performance and thus are key elements for implementation. We present dedicated algorithms. A specific preamble is created and the corresponding scheme for packet acquisition is described in some detail. The packet detecting algorithm is independent of the carrier and symbol timing. The symbol timing estimate is obtained by using the minimum mean square algorithm regardless of the carrier frequency deviation and carrier phase. Algorithms for estimating the carrier frequency offset and carrier phase are proposed. Computer simulation results are given for all algorithms presented.