A Self-Probing Method for Time Synchronization of Frequency-Hopped Spread Spectrum Systems

Abstract

A self-probing method for uplink time synchronization of frequency-hopped satellite communication systems is presented. An approach based on maximum likelihood estimation is followed for coarse acquistion. Fine time synchronization is then achieved by means of a linear interpolation algorithm. The performance of the coarse and fine acquisition algorithms is shown for typical cases of interest.