Timing and Carrier Synchronization in Wireless Communication Systems: A Survey and Classification of Research in the Last 5 Years

Timing and carrier synchronization is a fundamental requirement for any wireless communication system to work properly. Timing synchronization is the process by which a receiver node determines the correct instants of time at which to sample the incoming signal. Carrier synchronization is the process by which a receiver adapts the frequency and phase of its local carrier oscillator with those of the received signal. In this paper, we survey the literature over the last 5 years (2010–2014) and present a comprehensive literature review and classification of the recent research progress in achieving timing and carrier synchronization in single-input single-output (SISO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), cooperative relaying, and multiuser/multicell interference networks. Considering both single-carrier and multi-carrier communication systems, we survey and categorize the timing and carrier synchronization techniques proposed for the different communication systems focusing on the system model assumptions for synchronization, the synchronization challenges, and the state-of-the-art synchronization solutions and their limitations. Finally, we envision some future research directions

Space time transceiver design over multipath fading channels

Imperial Users onl

DOA Estimation in the Uplink of Multicarrier CDMA Systems

We consider the uplink of a multicarrier code-division multiple-access (MC-CDMA) network and assume that the base station is endowed with a uniform linear array. Transmission takes place over a multipath channel and the goal is the estimation of the directions of arrival (DOAs) of the signal from the active users. In a multiuser scenario, difficulties are primarily due to the large number of parameters involved in the estimation of the DOAs which makes this problem much more challenging than in single-user transmissions. The solution we propose allows estimating the DOAs of different users independently, thereby leading to a significant reduction in the system complexity. In the presence of multipath propagation, however, estimating the DOAs of a given user through maximum-likelihood methods remains a formidable task since it involves a search over a multidimensional domain. Therefore, we look for simpler solutions and discuss two alternative schemes based on the SAGE and ESPRIT algorithms