A novel structure for cell search in the broadband wireless access systems based on OFDMA

Cell search is the first step for the mobile station to access the broadband wireless access systems in the downlink. In this paper, we focus on the structure for cell search in the system based on OFDMA. A hierarchical structure called synchronization channel is proposed to implement cell search instead of the preamble structure. Symbol timing synchronization and carrier frequency offset acquisition are achieved through the primary synchronization channel. Then a cell is identified by the secondary synchronization channel. The performance of the novel structure shows that the reliability and validity of cell search are improved, and the structure meets the requirement that the information of cell identification is increased.