A GNU Radio Implementation for Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Receiver Synchronization

In this paper a GNU Radio implementation for a signal processing block that allows synchronizing a software defined radio receiver to frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) signals is proposed. The receiver requires no knowledge of the hopping pattern or the dwell time of the FHSS signal. These parameters are re-engineered by the proposed block before the receiver is synchronized to the hopping signal. The implementation is independent of the modulation scheme that is applied to the individual channels. As part of a research project, the signal processing block is implemented with the intention of analyzing the radio communication of civilian drones. However, the concept presented in this paper can also be applied for other use cases.