System and method for acquisition of signals

1. A system comprising:

a correlation circuit configured to:

receive a signal having at least a first channel and a second channel, the first and second channels having a common carrier frequency and carrying common data, the first and second channels having respective first and second codes applied thereto, the first and second codes being different,

correlate the signal with a third code to produce a first output, the third code being derived from a first function of the first and second codes, and

correlate the signal with a fourth code to produce a second output, the fourth code being derived from a second function of the first and second codes, where the second function is different than the first function; and

a processor configured to process the first and second outputs to produce a third output for at least one of: tracking of the signal; acquisition of the signal; and

extracting information from the signal.

2. A receiver as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third code is derived from at least one of a sum and a difference between the first and second codes.

3. A receiver as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to merge the first and second outputs to obtain symbols carried on one of the first and second channels of the signal.

4. A receiver as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the output of the processor is input to a second correlation circuit configured to synchronize at least some of the symbols with a locally generated code.

5. A system comprising:

a first correlator circuit configured to:

receive a signal having at least a first channel and a second channel, the first and second channels having a common carrier frequency and carrying common data, the first and second channels having respective first and second codes applied thereto, the first and second codes being different, and

correlate the signal with a third code derived from the first and second codes to produce a first output;

a second correlator circuit configured to:

receive the signal and

correlate the signal with a fourth code to produce a second output, the fourth code being derived from the first and second codes, wherein the third code and the fourth code are different; and

a processor configured to process the first and second outputs to produce a third output.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the third code comprises a difference between the first and second codes.

7. A system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the fourth code comprises a sum of the first and second codes.

8. A system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to merge the first and second outputs to obtain symbols carried on one of the first and second channels.

9. A system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to invert one of the first and second outputs and merge the inverted output with the other of the first and second outputs to obtain symbols carried on one of the first and second channels.

10. A system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether one of the first and second outputs is inactive and, if so, to exclude the inactive output from the merging.

11. A system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the third output is input to a third correlation circuit configured to synchronize at least some of the symbols with a locally generated code.

12. A system comprising:

a first correlator circuit configured to:

receive a signal having at least one code applied thereto, the signal having a frequency, and

correlate the signal with a first code to provide a first output;

a second correlator circuit configured to:

receive the signal, and

correlate the signal with a second code to provide a second output, wherein the first code and the second code are different; and

a processor configured to process the first and second outputs to cancel the frequency,

wherein the signal comprises at least two channels having the frequency, a first one of the channels has a first known code applied thereto and a second one of the channels has a second known code applied thereto, the first code comprising a first function of the first and second known codes and the second code comprising a second function of the first and second known codes, the first function different than the second function.

13. A system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to mix the first and second outputs to cancel the frequency.

14. A system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the first code comprises the first known code and the second code comprises the second known code.

15. A system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the first function comprises a sum of the first and second known codes and the second function comprises a difference of the first and second known codes.

16. A system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to merge the first and second outputs to obtain symbols carried on one of the at least two channels of the signal.

17. A system as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine if an output from one of the first and second correlator circuits is inactive and, if, so to exclude the inactive output from the merging.

18. A system as claimed in claim 16 , wherein an output of the processor is input to a third correlation circuit configured to synchronize at least some of the symbols with a locally generated code.

19. A system as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to invert one of the first and second outputs and merge the inverted output with the other of the first and second outputs to obtain symbols carried on one of the at least two channels of the signal.

20. A system as claimed in claim 19 , wherein an output of the processor is input to a third correlation circuit configured to synchronize at least some of the symbols with a locally generated code.