System and method for transmitting and detecting spread spectrum signals

1. A method of detecting wideband signals of bandwidth X within a communications system having a coherency time constant of T, comprising:

generating a synchronization signal, wherein generating a synchronization signal includes:

generating a chirp sequence that sweeps a portion of bandwidth X;

repeating the chirp sequence a plurality of times, wherein each repeated chirp sequence is within a same portion of bandwidth X, wherein each repeated chirp sequence is a wideband chirp sequence; and

concatenating the plurality of chirp sequences such that the plurality of chirp sequences are received at a receiver in the same symbol period;

transmitting the synchronization signal;

receiving a wideband signal at the receiver; and

detecting the synchronization signal within the wideband signal received at the receiver, wherein detecting includes:

generating a detection signal, wherein the detection signal is a complex conjugate of a receiver synchronization signal generated in the receiver;

correlating the received wideband signal with the detection signal to obtain one or more correlation results; and

indicating when the synchronization signal is detected within the wideband signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chirp sequence sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a synchronization signal further includes modulating a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence with the chirp sequence.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the PN sequence has a length M, wherein M is less than T.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the chirp sequence sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detection signal is of length N and wherein correlating the received wideband signal with the detection signal comprises:

multiplying the receive samples with the detection signal to create N product samples; and

performing a transform on the N product samples to obtain a set of correlation results.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the transform is a Fast Fourier Transform.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization signal is detected when the correlation results have a magnitude above a predetermined threshold.

9. A transmitter, comprising:

a synchronization signal generator, wherein the synchronization signal generator generates a synchronization signal, wherein the synchronization signal includes a chirp signal repeated a plurality of times, wherein each repeated chirp signal is within a same portion of bandwidth X, wherein each repeated chirp signal is a wideband chirp signal, wherein the plurality of chirp signals concatenated together such that the plurality of chirp signals are received at a receiver in the same symbol period;

a data source;

one or more modulators, wherein the modulators modulate data from the data source to form a data-modulated wideband signal of bandwidth X and wherein the modulators modulate the synchronization signal to form a modulated synchronization signal that sweeps a portion of bandwidth X; and

a transmitter circuit connected to the one or more modulators, wherein the transmitter circuit transmits the modulated synchronization signal and the data-modulated wideband signal at different times.

10. The transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

11. The transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

12. The transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the transmitter transmits the modulated synchronization signal as a preamble to the data-modulated wideband signal.

13. The transmitter of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization signal generator further includes a pseudo-noise generator, wherein the pseudo-noise generator generates a PN sequence of length M, wherein the PN sequence is modulated by the chirp signal to form the synchronization signal.

14. The transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the transmitter is designed to operate in a system having a coherency time constant of T and wherein M is chosen to be less than T.

15. The transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

16. The transmitter of claim 13 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

17. A receiver for use in a communications system having a coherency time constant of T and a transmitter that transmits wideband signal including a synchronization signal, the receiver comprising:

a receiver circuit for receiving a wideband signal of bandwidth X;

a synchronization signal detector, connected to the receiver circuit, wherein the synchronization signal detector detects the synchronization signal within the wideband signal, wherein the synchronization signal detector includes:

a detection signal generator, wherein the detection signal generator generates a detection signal, wherein the detection signal is a complex conjugate of a receiver synchronization signal generated in the receiver, wherein the detection signal is of length N; and

a correlator, wherein the correlator correlates the received wideband signal with the detection signal to obtain one or more correlation results and wherein the correlator indicates when the synchronization signal is detected as a function of the correlation results, wherein the correlator includes:

a multiplication circuit, wherein the multiplication circuit multiplies the receive samples with the detection signal to create N product samples; and

means for performing a transform on the N product samples to obtain a set of correlation results; and

a demodulator connected to the synchronization signal detector, wherein the demodulator recovers data from the wideband signal after the synchronization signal is detected;

wherein the synchronization signal includes a chirp signal repeated a plurality of times, wherein each repeated chirp signal is within a same portion of bandwidth X, wherein each repeated chirp signal is a wideband chirp signal, the plurality of chirp signals concatenated together such that the plurality of chirp signals are received at the receiver circuit in the same symbol period.

18. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

19. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

20. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the synchronization signal is transmitted as a preamble.

21. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the synchronization signal includes a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence modulated by the chirp signal, wherein the PN sequence is of length M, wherein M is less than a coherency time constant.

22. The receiver of claim 21 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

23. The receiver of claim 21 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

24. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the transform is a Fast Fourier Transform.

25. The receiver of claim 17 , wherein the synchronization signal is detected when the correlation results have a magnitude above a predetermined threshold.

26. A communication system having a coherency time constant T, comprising:

one or more transmitters, wherein each transmitter includes:

a synchronization signal generator, wherein synchronization signal generator generates a synchronization signal, wherein the synchronization signal includes a chirp signal repeated a plurality of times, wherein each repeated chirp signal is within a same portion of bandwidth X, wherein each repeated chirp signal is a wideband chirp signal, the plurality of chirp signals concatenated together such that the plurality of chirp signals are received in the same symbol period;

a data source;

one or more modulators, wherein the modulators modulate data from the data source to form a data-modulated wideband signal of bandwidth X and wherein the modulators modulate the synchronization signal to form a modulated synchronization signal that sweeps a portion of bandwidth X; and

a transmitter circuit connected to the one or more modulators, wherein the transmitter circuit transmits the modulated synchronization signal and the data-modulated wideband signal at different times; and

one or more receivers, wherein the receivers include:

a receiver circuit for receiving a wideband signal of bandwidth X;

a synchronization signal detector, connected to the receiver circuit, wherein the synchronization signal detector detects the synchronization signal within the wideband signal, wherein the synchronization signal detector includes:

a detection signal generator, wherein the detection signal generator generates a detection, wherein the detection signal is a complex conjugate of a receiver synchronization signal generated in the receiver; and

a correlator, wherein the correlator correlates the received wideband signal with the detection signal to obtain one or more correlation results and wherein the correlator indicates when the synchronization signal is detected as a function of the correlation results; and

a demodulator connected to the synchronization signal detector, wherein the demodulator recovers data from the wideband signal after the synchronization signal is detected.

27. The system of claim 26 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

28. The system of claim 26 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

29. The system of claim 26 , wherein the modulated synchronization signal is transmitted as a preamble.

30. The system of claim 26 , wherein the synchronization signal includes a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence modulated by the chirp signal, wherein the PN sequence is of length M, wherein M is less T.

31. The system of claim 30 , wherein the chirp signal is a linear frequency chirp signal.

32. The system of claim 30 , wherein the chirp signal sweeps linearly across the portion of bandwidth X such that each frequency is occupied for only a single chirp sample during each sweep.

33. The system of claim 26 , wherein the detection signal is of length N and wherein the correlator includes:

a multiplication circuit, wherein the multiplication circuit multiplies the receive samples with the detection signal to create N product samples; and

means for performing a transform on the N product samples to obtain a set of correlation results.

34. The system of claim 33 , wherein the transform is a Fast Fourier Transform.

35. The system of claim 26 , wherein the synchronization signal is detected when the correlation results have a magnitude above a predetermined threshold.