Fast frame synchronization

A method for synchronizing reception of a digital transmission, said digital transmission composed of a sequence of consecutive bits, said sequence of consecutive bits forming a plurality of frames, each of said frames having a frame start, comprising the steps of:

• generating clock pulses at time intervals with respect to a time reference;
• counting said time intervals with respect to said time reference thus generating a count for said frame start, said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start with respect to said time reference;
• generating a pointer, said pointer generated from a plurality of said counts, said pointer indicative of a projected time interval during which a future frame start is expected to arrive, wherein said clock pulses are used to sample said digital transmission to extract said sequence of consecutive bits, and wherein said count indicative of detection of said frame start within said sequence of consecutive bits is initiated by a cyclic prefix correlator.

A method for synchronizing reception of a digital transmission, said digital transmission composed of a sequence of consecutive bits, said sequence of consecutive bits forming a plurality of frames, each of said frames having a frame start, comprising the steps of:

• generating clock pulses at time intervals with respect to a time reference;
• counting said time intervals with respect to said time reference thus generating a count for said frame start, said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start with respect to said time reference;
• generating a pointer, said pointer generated from a plurality of said counts, said pointer indicative of a projected time interval during which a future frame start is expected to arrive, wherein said step to detect said frame start within said sequence of consecutive bits further comprises a step for adjusting a threshold in response to the absolute value of the difference between said count and said pointer.

A programmable signal processor programmed for synchronizing the reception of a digital transmission, said digital transmission composed of a sequence of consecutive bits, said sequence of consecutive bits forming a plurality of frames, each of said frames having a frame start said programmable processor performing the steps of:

• counting time intervals with respect to a time reference thus generating a count for said frame start, said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start with respect to said time reference;
• generating a pointer, said pointer generated from a plurality of said counts, said pointer indicative of a projected time interval during which a future frame start is expected to arrive, wherein said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start is initiated by a cyclic prefix correllator.

A programmable signal processor programmed for synchronizing the reception of a digital transmission, said digital transmission composed of a sequence of consecutive bits, said sequence of consecutive bits forming a plurality of frames, each of said frames having a frame start, said programmable processor performing the steps of:

• counting time intervals with respect to a time reference thus generating a count for said frame start, said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start with respect to said time reference;
• generating a pointer, said pointer generated from a plurality of said counts, said pointer indicative of a projected time interval during which a future frame start is expected to arrive, wherein said step for generating said pointer implements a digital filter.

A programmable signal processor programmed for synchronizing the reception of a digital transmission, said digital transmission composed of a sequence of consecutive bits, said sequence of consecutive bits forming a plurality of frames, each of said frames having a frame start, said programmable processor performing the steps of:

• counting time intervals with respect to a time reference thus generating a count for said frame start, said count indicative of time of detection of said frame start with respect to said time reference;
• generating a pointer, said pointer generated from a plurality of said counts,
• said pointer indicative of a projected time interval during which a future frame start is expected to arrive, wherein said step for generating a pointer adjusts a threshold in response to the absolute value of the difference between said count and said pointer.