Method and apparatus for establishing a set of a plurality of synchronization signal sequences to be used with one or more communication targets

A method in a user equipment, the method comprising:

• establishing a set of a plurality of synchronization signal sequences to be used in connection with at least one communication target, the set of the plurality of synchronization signal sequences having a predetermined length,
• wherein each synchronization signal sequence in the set is based upon a first maximum length sequence having a first cyclic shift and a second maximum length sequence having a second cyclic shift, and corresponds to a respective identity of a plurality of identities associated with a respective communication target;
• wherein for at least one group of possible synchronization signal sequences from the established set, where a value of a first cyclic shift difference between the second cyclic shift of the second maximum length sequence and the first cyclic shift of the first maximum length sequence upon which each of the possible synchronization signal sequences in the group are based are equal, and a second cyclic shift difference between the respective first cyclic shift value of the first maximum length sequence upon which each of the possible synchronization signal sequences in the group are based for any two of the possible synchronization signal sequences in the group are larger than or equal to a threshold value, where the threshold value is determined based on an expected maximum carrier frequency offset value;
• receiving a downlink signal including a synchronization signal, where the synchronization signal comprises one of the set of synchronization signal sequences;
• detecting the synchronization signal;
• determining an identity of a communication target at least in part from the detected synchronization signal;
• and
• determining at least some communication characteristics for use with subsequent communications between the user equipment and the communication target.

A user equipment in a communication network, the user equipment comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a controller coupled to the transceiver, that determines a set of sequence values to be used as synchronization signal sequences, the set of sequence values having a predetermined length, wherein each sequence value in the set is based upon a first maximum length sequence having a first cyclic shift, and is based upon a second maximum length sequence having a second cyclic shift, and wherein for at least one group of possible sequence values from the determined set, where a value of a first cyclic shift difference between the second cyclic shift of the second maximum length sequence and the first cyclic shift of the first maximum length sequence upon which each of the possible sequence values in the group are based are equal, and a second cyclic shift difference between the respective first cyclic shift value of the first maximum length sequence upon which each of the possible sequence values in the group are based for any two of the possible sequence values in the group are larger than or equal to a threshold value, where the threshold value is determined based on an expected maximum carrier frequency offset value;
• and
• wherein each one of the determined set of sequence values is associated with respective at least one communication target;
• wherein the transceiver receives a downlink signal including a synchronization signal, where the synchronization signal comprises one of the determined set of sequence values;
• and
• wherein the controller further detects the synchronization signal from the received downlink signal, determines an identity of a communication target at least in part from the detected synchronization signal, and determines at least some communication characteristics for use with subsequent communications between the user equipment and the communication target.