Parameter Estimation and Synchronization

Every communications receiver must perform some operations on the incoming signal to extract the necessary information for a feasible decoding. A number of parameters must be estimated, such as the channel response, the clock and carrier (frequency/phase) references, and the time epochs corresponding to the start of frames or code words. All these ancillary tasks are commonly considered as synchronization issues, and must be especially designed to minimize their impact on the final performance of the decoding.