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

Abstract 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.