DS-CDMA Code Acquisition in the Presence of Correlated Fading—Part I: Theoretical Aspects

This paper deals with the analysis of the code-acquisition process performed by a mobile terminal in a CDMA cellular system. The fundamental contribution is the setting of a theoretical framework for code acquisition analysis, accounting for the presence of fading and shadowing with specified coherence time. A multi-dwell architecture is considered, accounting for different verification strategies. The MAX/TC detection criterion is used, and the acquisition performance is analyzed following both the direct and flow-graph approaches. Expressions for the acquisition time probability density function under different assumptions are given, as well as closed-form expressions for the mean and variance of the acquisition time. Practical applications and numerical results are reported in the Part II companion paper.