Robust frame synchronization for the DVB-S2 system with large frequency offsets

This paper tackles the problem of frame synchronization design for the Digital Video Broadcasting standard via Satellite (DVB-S2) system. In particular, the design of a novel frame detection scheme exhibiting robustness against large frequency errors is proposed. Post-detection integration (PDI) is exploited to provide coarse frame alignment with limited complexity with respect to classical approximate maximum likelihood (ML) solutions. The novel scheme, denoted as differential generalized post-detection integration, derives from a pragmatic adaptation of the well-known generalized PDI scheme (IEEE Trans. Commun. 2007; 55(11):2159-2171), which eliminates its inherent source of weakness in the presence of large frequency offsets, i.e. its non-differential component given by non-coherent PDI. The proposed approach manages to reduce the remarkable performance gap with respect to approximate ML techniques available in the literature (IEEE Trans. Commun. 2002; 50(7):1062-1065), providing the designer with an interesting performance/complexity trade-off. Performance is numerically evaluated in terms of receiver operating characteristics and mean acquisition time (MAT), handling the acquisition procedure according to a single-dwell approach. Both threshold crossing and MAX criterion are contrasted to identify the best design solution. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.