Fine timing acquisition

An OFDM system for synchronizing timing of a receiver to a received OFDM signal, the OFDM system comprising:

• means for performing a first timing acquisition with a first received TDM pilot to determine a course timing estimate of the received OFDM signal;
• means for performing a second timing acquisition with a second TDM pilot to determine a fine timing estimate of the received OFDM signal, wherein the means for performing the second timing acquisition comprises:
• means for determining accumulated energy of a plurality of channel taps within a detection window for a plurality of starting locations to form an accumulated energy curve, and
• means for detecting a trailing edge of the accumulated energy curve;
• and
• means for adjusting a FT collection window location for a subsequent OFDM symbol according to an outcome from the means for performing the second timing acquisition.

A method for synchronizing timing of a receiver to a received signal, the method comprising steps of:

• performing a first timing acquisition to determine a course timing estimate of the received signal;
• performing a second timing acquisition with a TDM pilot to determine a fine timing estimate for a symbol of the received signal, wherein the performing the second timing acquisition step comprises sub-steps of:
• determining accumulated energy of a plurality of channel taps within a detection window for a plurality of starting locations to form an accumulated energy curve,
• detecting a trailing edge of the accumulated energy curve, and
• the determining sub-step and the detecting sub-step are performed, at least partially, co-incident in time for a particular channel tap of the plurality of channel taps;
• and
• adjusting a FT collection window location for a subsequent symbol according to the performing the second timing acquisition step.

A communication device for synchronizing timing of a receiver to a received signal, the communication device comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• cause performing a first timing acquisition with a first received time division multiplexed (TDM) pilot to determine a course timing estimate of the received OFDM signal;
• cause performing a second timing acquisition with a second TDM pilot to determine a fine timing estimate of the received OFDM signal, wherein the performing the second timing acquisition step comprises sub-steps of:
• determining accumulated energy of a plurality of channel taps within a detection window for a plurality of starting locations to form an accumulated energy curve, and
• detecting a trailing edge of the accumulated energy curve;
• and
• causing adjustment of a Fourier transform (FT) collection window location for a subsequent OFDM symbol according to the performing the second timing acquisition step;
• and
• a memory coupled with the processor.