Blind symbol timing offset estimation for offset-QPSK modulated signals

In this paper, a blind symbol timing offset (STO) estimation method is proposed for offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK) modulated signals, which also works for other linearly modulated signals (LMS) such as binary-PSK, QPSK, pi/4-QPSK, and minimum-shift keying. There are various methods available for blind STO estimation of LMS; however, none work in the case of OQPSK modulated signals. The popular cyclic correlation method fails to estimate STO for OQPSK signals, as the offset present between the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components causes the cyclic peak to disappear at the symbol rate frequency. In the proposed method, a set of close and approximate offsets is used to compensate the offset between the I and Q components of the received OQPSK signal. The STO in the time domain is represented as a phase in the cyclic frequency domain. The STO is therefore calculated by obtaining the phase of the cyclic peak at the symbol rate frequency. The method is validated through extensive theoretical study, simulation, and testbed implementation. The proposed estimation method exhibits robust performance in the presence of unknown carrier phase offset and frequency offset.