A spread-spectrum based synchronization technique for digital broadcast systems

A technique that has been verified experimentally to improve the synchronization efficiency of digital communication systems over present systems without sacrificing reliability is presented. This technique is called the spread-spectrum system pilot technique (SSPT). Incorporated into this technique are elements of tone-calibrated techniques (TCT) and spread-spectrum systems. In the SSPT system, the desired pilot tone is modulated by a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) generator of finite duration and then linearly added to the source (customer) data that is actually being sent. At the receiver, the same finite PRBS sequence is used to decode the received signal. The system works because it provides an accurate version of the actual data carrier to be used in demodulation of the received signal. Based on the research presented, it is expected that this type of system will lead to better performance than currently used transparent-tone-in-band and other techniques used in multipath fading environments, which are especially problematic in mobile broadcast and communication applications