Joint optimization of time and frequency synchronization based on polynomial sequences for OFDM systems

In orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, time and frequency synchronization are two critical elements for guaranteeing the orthogonality of OFDM subcarriers. Conventionally, with the employment of pseudo-noise (PN) sequences in preamble design, the preamble information is not fully utilized in both symbol timing offset acquisition and carrier frequency offset estimation. In this article, a new synchronization algorithm is proposed for jointly optimizing the time and frequency synchronization. This algorithm uses polynomial sequences as synchronization preamble instead of PN sequences. Theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm is much more accurate and reliable than other existing methods.