Wireless Communications Group

Synchronization

Francois Horlin

1
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

2
 References

Digital Communications, Fourth Edition, J. G. Proakis

Digital Communication Receivers: Synchronization, Channel
estimation and Signal Processing, H. Meyr, M. Moeneclaey, S. A.
Fechtel
DVB-S2 Modem Algorithms Design and Performance over
Typical Satellite Channels, E. Casini, R. De Gaudenzi, A. Ginesi

3
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

4
 Challenges

The frequency of the transmitter/receiver local oscillators may be

inaccurate due to hardware imperfections (typically the limited cristal
accuracy). This causes a carrier frequency offset and a sampling clock
offset.
Furthermore, there is a random carrier phase and time shift between
the two sides of the link.

5
 Synchronization
Synchronization errors
challenges *

nT nT (1 + ) + t0

Modulator DAC ADC Demodulator

cos (c t) cos ((c + )t + 0 )

56
 Synchronization errors

Carrier frequency and phase:

Carrier frequency offset (CFO): 6= 0
Phase offset: 0 6= 0
Sampling time frequency and phase:
Sample clock offset (SCO): 6= 0
Time shift: t0 6= 0

7
 Problem statement

The synchronization mismatches can have a highly degrading effect

and need therefore to be corrected
Approach in two steps:
Evaluate the impact of the synchronization mismatches on the
system performance in order to fix the synchronization
specifications
Design a synchronization structure to estimate and compensate
for the synchronization parameters that meets the specifications

8
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

9
 Communication chain over ideal channel

Baseband equivalent model:

ej( !t+ 0)

nT (1 + ) + Tt00
s(t) r(t)
y(t)
I[n] g(t) g ( t)
y[n]
I[n]

n(t)

10
 Communication chain over ideal channel

At the transmitter, the data symbols I[n] are shaped with a halfroot
Nyquist filter g(t).
In the case of the ideal channel, the received signal is the transmitted
signal corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise n(t) of variance n2 :
X
r(t) = I[n] g(t nT ) + n(t)
n

11
 Perfect synchronization

After matched filtering with g (t), the received signal is sampled at

the symbol rate to produce the symbol estimate:

y[n] = (r(t) g (t))|t=nT

X Z
= I[m] h(nT mT ) + n(t) g (t nT )dt
m t
Z
= I[n] + n(t) g (t nT )dt
t

where h(t) := g(t) g (t) is the Nyquist filter

The noise will be neglected in the analysis (no second term)

12
 Impact of phase offset

1.5

0.5

The phase shift causes a 0

Q
rotation of the constellation:
0.5

y[n] = ej0 I[n] 1

1.5
1.5 1 0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
I

QPSK, 0 = /8

13
 Impact of CFO

The received signal in the presence of CFO can be generated by

filtering a stream of modified symbols I 0 [n] := I[n] ejnT with the
pulse filter shifted in the frequency domain g 0 (t) := g(t) ejnT :
X
r(t) ejt = I[n] g(t nT ) ejt
n
X
= (I[n]ejnT ) (g(t) ejt )|tnT
n
X
= I 0 [n] g 0 (t nT )
n

Therefore the CFO causes inter-symbol interference (ISI) as there is a

mismatch between the transmitter and receiver pulses

14
 Impact of CFO

To prevent ISI, most of the CFO should be corrected in front of the

matched filter. The residual CFO causes mainly a linearly varying
phase error at the output of the matched filter that can be
compensated at a low complexity.

Next slide illustrates the BER degradation due to the ISI only. The
crystals are generally accurate to 10 ppm. The synchronization
algorithms should make sure the residual CFO is smaller than 2 ppm
before the communication can take place.

15
 Impact of CFO on bit error rate (only ISI)
0
10
no CFO
CFO = 2 ppm
CFO = 10 ppm
1
10

2
10
BER

3
10

4
10

4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

16QAM, 1 Msps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, 2 GHz carrier

16
 Impact of time shift and SCO

Both the time shift and the SCO cause a sampling shift of the Nyquist
filter and generate therefore ISI:

y[n] = (r(t) g (t))|t=nT (1+)+t0

X
= I[m] h(nT (1 + ) mT + t0 )
m
X
= I[n] h(nT + t0 ) + I[m] h(nT (1 + ) mT + t0 )
m6=n

17
 Perfect sampling of received signal
1.2

0.8

0.6
signal

0.4

0.2

0.2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time

18
 Impact of time shift on sampling
1.2

0.8

0.6
signal

0.4

0.2

0.2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time

19
 Impact of SCO on sampling
1.2

0.8

0.6
signal

0.4

0.2

0.2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time

20
 Impact of time shift on bit error rate

Next slide illustrates the impact of a time shift on the BER.

The error on the sampling time instant should be less than 2% of the
symbol duration to support the data communication.

21
 Impact of time shift on bit error rate
0
10
no time offset
t0=0.02 T
t0=0.05 T
1
10 t0=0.1 T

2
10
BER

3
10

4
10

4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

16QAM, 1 Msps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, 2 GHz carrier

22
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

23
 Outline: Synchronization structure

Acquisition/tracking phases
Feedforward/feedback synchronizers
DVB-S synchronization structure

24
 Synchronization usually organized in 2 phases

Acquisition:
Rough estimation of the synchronization parameters before the
data communication
Often a feedforward synchronizer works based on a known
preamble in front of data
Tracking:
Fine estimation/correction of the remaining errors when data
are transmitted
Often a feedback synchronizer works based on known pilots
and estimated data

25
 Principle of feedforward synchronizer

Observation interval divided into subintervals. Synchronization

parameters are assumed to be constant within subinterval.
Receiver produces one estimate of the synchronization parameters
per subinterval (obtained by maximizing a target function by
means of a search or a direct computation).
Sensitive to fluctuations of the synchronization parameters within
the subinterval.

26
 Principle of feedback synchronizer

Observation of a continuous sequence. Synchronization

parameters can vary along the time.
Feedback synchronizers update the estimate of synchronization
parameters once per symbol interval (obtained by tracking the
error by means of a feedback loop).
(Slow) fluctuations of the parameters can be tracked.

27
Digital video broadcast-satellite (DVB-S) frame

28
 DVB-S synchronization structure

The following steps are successively followed:

Acquisition and tracking of the sampling time instants (Gardner
algorithm)
Acquisition of the frame starting time
Acquisition of the carrier frequency offset
Interpolation of phase drift due to remaining CFO between pilot
sequences

29
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

30
 Outline: Synchronization algorithms

Maximum likelihood parameter estimation

Sampling time tracking
Frame acquisition
Carrier frequency offset acquisition

31
 General I/O model

r = f (I, ) + n
where:
I is the data symbols
is the synchronization parameter
and:
r is the received signal
n is the noise signal

32
 Data aided (DA) synchronization

Known data symbols are sent at the transmitter (preamble, pilots) to

enable the synchronization of the receiver
The maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the parameter is:

= arg max p(r|I, )

33
 Non-data aided (NDA) synchronization

The synchronization is performed based on unknown data symbols

The ML estimate of the parameter is:

= arg max p(r|)

= arg max EI [p(r|I, )]

X
= arg max p(r|I, ) PI (I)

I

34
 NDA sampling time tracking

Received signal model:

X
r(t) = I[n]g(t nT T ) + n(t)
n

where  [0, 1] is the normalized time error (to be estimated)

Conditional probability:

Z   2
1 X 
p (r|I, ) = C exp 2 r(t) I[n]g(t nT T ) dt
 
2n  n


35
 Time error ML estimate

 = arg max EI [p (r|I, )]


" !#
1 X 2
= arg max EI exp 2< [I [n]y  [n]] |I[n]|
 2n2 n

where Z
y [n] := r(t)g (t nT T )dt

is the matched filter output sampled at nT + T

36
 Time error ML estimate

Taylor expansion:
x2 x3
exp(x) = 1 + x + + + ...
2! 3!

Limiting the Taylor expansion to the second order (valid at low SNR)
and averaging the result over the symbols, the ML estimate becomes:
2
X
 = arg max |y [n]|

n

37
 Feedback loop implementation (Gardner)

2
|y [n]|
[n + 1] = [n] +
 |=
[n]

 
y [n]
= [n] + 2 < y [n]
 |=[n]
2 h  i
' [n] + < y[n] [n + 1/2] y[n] [n + 1] y[n1] [n]
T

38
 Interpretation

The estimator samples the matched filter output at the symbol

locations and midway.
If there is a symbol transition, the average midway value should be
zero in the absence of time error. A timing error gives a non-zero
average of sign depending on the error sign and transition slope. The
difference between the symbol values corrects the sign of the transition
slope.
If there is no symbol transition, the symbol values are the same, and
so the midway sample is rejected.

39
 Interpretation

Matched Midway sample

filter o: correct sampling instants
rejected x: actual sampling instants
output
signal

Sign of midway
sample, corrected
by signal slope,
indicates sign of
error

Time

40
 Impact of roll-off on s-curve
1
Rolloff 0.3
0.8 Rolloff 0.7

Feedback loop correction term (mean stdv) 0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1
0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Normalized time error ()

QPSK, 1Mbps symbol rate, varying roll-off, no noise

41
 Impact of constellation on s-curve
1

0.8
QPSK
0.6 64QAM
Feedback loop correction term (mean stdv)

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1
0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Normalized time error ()

Varying constellation, 1Mbps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, no noise

42
 Convergence as a function of
7
x 10
5
K = 0.01
K = 0.05

3
Time error (mean stdv)

2
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Symbols

QPSK, 1Mbps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, no noise

43
 Convergence if CFO
7
x 10
4.5
no CFO
4 CFO = 10 ppm
CFO = 50 ppm

3.5

3
Time error (mean stdv)

2.5

1.5

0.5

0.5
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Symbols

QPSK, 1Mbps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, no noise

44
 Impact of noise
8
x 10
4

3.5

2.5
Time error stdev

1.5

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

QPSK, 1Mbps symbol rate, 0.3 roll-off, after convergence

45
 Algorithm performance

Impact of modulation parameters:

Higher roll-off factor improves the average correction metric
Constellation size has no impact on average correction metric
Faster but less reliable convergence when weight K is increased
Realistic CFO has no impact on the performance (less than 10 ppm),
higher values only impact the convergence speed
The time error is generally smaller than 2% of the symbol period for
Eb /N0 > 4 dB

46
 DA frame acquisition

The transmitter sends a known pilot of size N :

a[0]
..

a :=

.

a[N 1]

The receiver must detect the time-of-arrival (ToA) of the pilot after
propagation through the channel so as to known when the data can be
received

47
 DA frame acquisition

Assuming a correct symbol sampling (Gardner algorithm), we have:

y[n] = I[n] + n[n]

where:
I[n] is the transmitted sequence (I[n] = a[n] for n = 0 N 1,
not specified elsewhere)
y[n] is the received sequence after matched filtering
n[n] is the noise sequence (independent elements of variance n2 )

48
 DA frame acquisition

A vector model is built:

y[n]
..

y[n] :=


.

y[n + N 1]

I[n] n[n]
.. ..

= +


.


.

I[n + N 1] n[n + N 1]
:= I[n] + n[n]

such that I[0] = a

49
 DA frame acquisition

I[0] = a I[n]

0 n

50
 Pilot ToA ML estimation

n = arg max p(y[n]|a)

n
 
1
H

= arg max C exp 2 y[n] a y[n] a
n 2n
arg max 2 < y [n] a y H [n] y[n]
 H 
=
n
"N 1 # N 1
X X
= arg max 2 < y [n + l] a[l] |y[n + l]|2
n
l=0 l=0
N
X 1
= arg max 2N |C[n]| cos (C[n]) |y[n + l]|2
n
l=0
PN 1
where C[n] := 1/N l=0 y [n + l] a[l] is the cross-correlation of the
received sequence with the pilot at time n
51
 Pilot ToA ML estimation

A near optimal estimate of the pilot ToA can be obtained by

cross-correlating the received signal with the pilot:

n = arg max |C[n]|

n

The performance of the pilot ToA estimator is poor when there is CFO
in the system (not yet compensated!). A joint pilot ToA/frequency
estimator is desired to cope with the two effects together.

52
 DA joint frame/frequency acquisition

In the presence of CFO, the I/O model becomes:

y[n] = I[n] ej(nT +0 ) + n[n]

and the corresponding vector model becomes:

y[n] = I[n]  [n] + n[n]

where:
ej(nT +0 )
..

[n] :=

.

ej((n+N 1)T +0 )

53
 Pilot ToA/CFO ML estimation

(n, ) = arg max p(y[n]|a, )
n,
1
H

= arg max C exp( 2 y[n] a  [n] y[n] a  [n] )
n, 2n
= arg max 2 < y [n] a  [n] y H [n] y[n]
 H

n,
"N 1 #
X
= arg max 2< y [n + l] a[l] ej((n+l)T +0 )
n,
l=0
N
X 1
|y[n + l]|2
l=0

54
 Pilot ToA/CFO ML estimation

The pilot ToA and the CFO can be estimated by cross-correlating the
received sequence with multiple replicas of the pilot, each shifted in
frequency by the possible CFO values

This solution is of very high complexity as it necessitates a 2D

exhaustive search. A lower complexity solution relying on the
differential correlation can be designed.

55
 Differential correlation

Let us define the differential correlation:

N 1
1 X
Dk [n] = (y [n + l] a[l]) (y [n + l k] a[l k])
N k
l=k

Neglecting the noise terms, it is equal to:

N 1
1 X
Dk [n] = ejkT (I [n + l] I[n + l k]) (a[l] a [l k])
N k
l=k

56
 Pilot ToA/CFO estimation

Pilot ToA estimate:

K
X
n = arg max |Dk [n]|
n
k=1

CFO estimate:
K
1 X Dk [n]
f =
K 2kT
k=1

where K is the cross-correlation (XC) averaging window

57
 Pilot ToA error as a function of pilot length
200
N = 10, K = 8
180 N = 20, K = 8
N = 40, K = 8

160

140
Time error stdev [samples]

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N [dB]
0

Random QPSK pilot symbols, no CFO, no time shift

58
 Pilot ToA error as a function of K
200
N = 20, K = 1
180 N = 20, K = 8
N = 20, K = 16

160

140
Time error stdev [samples]

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

Random QPSK pilot symbols, no CFO, no time shift

59
 Pilot ToA error if CFO and time error
1
no CFO, =0
0.9 10 ppm CFO, =0.02

0.8

0.7
Time error stdev [samples]

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

Random QPSK pilot symbols, N = 40, K = 8

60
 CFO error as a function of pilot length
10
N = 10, K = 8
9 N = 20, K = 8
N = 40, K = 8

7
Frequency error stdev [ppm]

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N [dB]
0

Random QPSK pilot symbols, no CFO, no time shift

61
 CFO error as a function of K
10
N = 20, K = 1
N = 20, K = 8
9
N = 20, K = 16

7
Frequency error stdev[ppm]

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

Random QPSK pilot symbols, no CFO, no time shift

62
 CFO error if CFO and time error
1
no CFO, =0
0.9 10 ppm CFO, =0.02

0.8

0.7
Frequency error stdev [ppm]

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Eb/N0 [dB]

Random QPSK pilot symbols, N = 40, K = 8

63
 Algorithm performance

When the pilot length and cross-correlation averaging window are

sufficient (N 20, K 8):
The frame synchronization is perfect
The CFO remaining error is less than 2 ppm for Eb /N0 > 4 5 dB
Realistic CFO (less than 10 ppm) and time shift (2% at the output of
Gardner algorithm) have little impact on the performance

64
 Outline

Introduction
Impact of synchronization errors
Synchronization structure
Synchronization algorithms
Exercises

65
 Exercise 1

Derive the baseband equivalent model of the communication chain

over the ideal channel illustrated in slide 10.

The model takes the synchronization errors into account (CFO, SCO,
phase offset, time shift).

66
 Exercise 2

The received signal in the presence of a time error  [0, 1] is given by:
X
r(t) = I[n]g(t nT T ) + n(t)
n

where I[n] are the data symbols, g(t) is the pulse shaping filter and
n(t) is the additive noise assumed Gaussian and white of variance n2 .

Derive the NDA ML estimator of the time error . To average the

likelihood function over the symbols, a Taylor approximation of the
exponential must be performed.

67