Chirp Signal Based Timing Offset Estimation for GFDM Systems

Generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) is a block-based multicarrier modulation scheme that is a potential candidate for the fifth generation (5G) and beyond wireless communication systems. A critical factor in enhancing the performance of GFDM is achieving precise synchronization. To that end, a new timing synchronization algorithm that utilizes cross-correlation and the sliding window algorithm is presented in this article. The algorithm uses a training symbol based on a chirp sequence. The simulation results of the proposed estimator and conventional CP based approach are analyzed under indoor office scenarios and urban macro cells scenarios for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and GFDM. The performance of the proposed method is better for GFDM in terms of the three parameters: mean of the timing offset, mean square error of the timing offset, and probability of timing failure. For the proposed algorithm, the results show that the probability of timing failure decreases with increasing signal to noise ratio in the case of the GFDM system.