On a Hybrid Preamble/Soft-Output Demapper Approach for Time Synchronization for IEEE 802.15.6 Narrowband WBAN

TL;DR

This paper introduces a low-complexity ML-based time synchronization method for IEEE 802.15.6 WBANs that leverages soft demapper information, achieving near-optimal accuracy as indicated by simulation results.

Contribution

It proposes a novel hybrid preamble/soft-output demapper approach for time synchronization tailored to narrowband WBAN standards.

Findings

Achieves performance close to the CRB in simulations.

Low complexity algorithm suitable for IEEE 802.15.6 systems.

Effective utilization of soft information improves synchronization accuracy.

Abstract

In this paper, we present a maximum likelihood (ML) based time synchronization algorithm for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN). The proposed technique takes advantage of soft information retrieved from the soft demapper for the time delay estimation. This algorithm has a low complexity and is adapted to the frame structure specified by the IEEE 802.15.6 standard for the narrowband systems. Simulation results have shown good performance which approach the theoretical mean square error limit bound represented by the Cramer Rao Bound (CRB).