A novel low computational complexity timing synchronization algorithm for underwater acoustic communication

The Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology holds great promise for Underwater Acoustic (UWA) communication due to its exceptional spectrum utilization and robust anti-jamming capability. However, the sensitivity of OFDM systems to timing and frequency offsets necessitates the attainment of high-precision timing synchronization, which is crucial for UWA-OFDM systems. In this paper, a novel low-complexity algorithm is proposed for timing synchronization that employs only a single-channel signal as the timing synchronization sequence, thereby maintaining approximately 50% channel utilization during the synchronization phase compared to typical methods. This approach reduces computational complexity by 30% in comparison with typical methods that involve complex multiplication and modulo operations. The computational complexity and timing synchronization performance of the algorithm are calculated and simulated in this paper to verify its effectiveness.