System and method for adaptive overlap and add length estimation

1. A method for windowing time domain data samples derived from a data frame comprising:

obtaining a plurality of time domain samples of a transmitted instance of a synchronization data frame;

obtaining a coarse estimate of a starting value for the synchronization data frame;

correlating the time domain samples of the transmitted instance with a locally stored instance of the synchronization data frame at a plurality of time value offsets to determine a corresponding plurality of magnitudes of correlation values;

comparing the magnitudes of the correlation values corresponding to a first subset of the offsets to a first predetermined threshold to determine a first edge offset;

comparing the magnitudes of the correlation values corresponding to a second subset of the offsets to a second predetermined threshold to determine a set of potential second edge offsets;

selecting a second edge offset from the set of potential second edge offsets using a false alarm mitigation procedure;

using the first and second edge offsets to determine an overlap and add length estimate;

using the first edge offset to modify the coarse estimate of the starting value to determine an estimate of a starting position of a time-domain data window for subsequent processing by an overlap-and-add circuit; and

providing the starting position estimate and the overlap and add length estimate to the overlap-and-add circuit.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subset of the offsets comprise offsets that are less than or equal to an offset having a maximal correlation value and wherein the first edge offset is the first offset of the first subset that has a correlation value greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the synchronization data frames comprise instances of a predetermined training sequence and wherein the transmitted instance arrives on a channel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the false alarm mitigation procedure comprises:

selecting the last offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus first offset value of the set of potential second edge samples is less than or equal to a predetermined time value or if the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than or equal to a predetermined offset count; and

selecting the penultimate offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus the first offset value of the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than the predetermined time value and the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is less than the predetermined offset count.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising obtaining a channel estimation sequence and using the channel estimation sequence to determine if the channel is a fading channel;

and decoding a subsequent data signal using the overlap and add circuit if the channel is a fading channel.

6. A data receiving apparatus, comprising:

a correlation module in communication with a receiver and configured to correlate a plurality of time domain samples of a data frame obtained from the receiver with an offset stored data frame to determine a plurality of magnitudes of correlation values corresponding to a corresponding plurality of time offsets; and

an overlap and add circuit in communication with the receiver and the correlation module and configured to perform overlap and add on a data signal obtained from the receiver according to a determined overlap and add length and a determined time estimate;

wherein the determined overlap and add length comprises the distance between a first edge offset and a second edge offset;

wherein the first edge offset comprises an element of a first subset of the offsets whose correlation value magnitude is greater than or equal to a first predetermined threshold;

wherein the second edge offset comprises an element of a second subset of the offsets whose correlation value magnitude is greater than or equal to a second predetermined threshold; and

wherein the determined time estimate comprises the time value of the first edge offset.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the first subset of the offsets comprise offsets that are less than or equal to the offset having a maximal correlation value magnitude and wherein the first edge offset is the first offset of the first subset having a correlation value magnitude greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the second subset of the offsets comprise offsets that are greater than or equal to the offsets having a maximal correlation value magnitude and wherein the second edge offset is the last offset of the second subset having a correlation value magnitude greater than or equal to a second predetermined threshold.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first predetermined threshold equals the second predetermined threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein a set of potential second edge offsets comprises offsets of the second subset having correlation value magnitude greater than the second predetermined threshold and

further comprising a false alarm mitigation module in communication with a correlation module configured to select the second edge offset from the set of potential second edge offsets using a false alarm mitigation procedure comprising:

selecting the last offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus first offset value of the set of potential second edge samples is less than or equal to a predetermined time value or if the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than or equal to a predetermined offset count; and

selecting the penultimate offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus the first offset value of the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than the predetermined time value and the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is less than the predetermined offset count.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the receiver receives data on a channel and further comprising a channel estimation module configured to determine if the channel is a fading channel and to bypass the overlap and add circuit if the channel is not a fading channel.

12. Computer executable program code embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium configured to a receiver to perform the functions of:

obtaining a plurality of time domain samples of a transmitted instance of a synchronization data frame;

obtaining a coarse estimate of a starting value for the synchronization data frame;

correlating the time domain samples of the transmitted instance with a locally stored instance of the synchronization data frame at a plurality of time value offsets to determine a corresponding plurality of magnitudes of correlation values;

comparing the magnitudes of the correlation values corresponding to a first subset of the offsets to a first predetermined threshold to determine a first edge offset;

comparing the magnitudes of the correlation values corresponding to a second subset of the offsets to a second predetermined threshold to determine a set of potential second edge offsets;

selecting a second edge offset from the set of potential second edge offsets using a false alarm mitigation procedure;

using the first and second edge offsets to determine an overlap and add length estimate;

using the first edge offset to modify the coarse estimate of the starting value to determine an estimate of a starting position of a time-domain data window for subsequent processing by an overlap-and-add circuit; and

providing the starting position estimate and the overlap and add length estimate to the overlap-and-add circuit.

13. The computer executable program code of claim 12 , wherein the first subset of the offsets comprise offsets that are less than or equal to an offset having a maximal correlation value and wherein the first edge offset is the first offset of the first subset that has a correlation value greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold.

14. The computer executable program code of claim 13 wherein the synchronization data frames comprise instances of a predetermined training sequence and wherein the transmitted instance arrives on a channel.

15. The computer executable program code of claim 14 , wherein the false alarm mitigation procedure comprises:

selecting the last offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus first offset value of the set of potential second edge samples is less than or equal to a predetermined time value or if the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than or equal to a predetermined offset count; and

selecting the penultimate offset of the set of potential second edge offsets if the last offset value minus the first offset value of the set of potential second edge offsets is greater than the predetermined time value and the number of offsets in the set of potential second edge offsets is less than the predetermined offset count.

16. The computer executable program code of claim 15 , further configured to perform the functions of obtaining a channel estimation sequence and using the channel estimation sequence to determine if the channel is a fading channel; and decoding a subsequent data signal using the overlap and add circuit if the channel is a fading channel.