Embedded reconfigurable architectures are currently attracting increasing attention in the wireless communications industry due to the escalating number of wireless standards in today's market. Application specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs) present a reconfigurable solution that offers a compromise between programmability and low power consumption. In this article, the design and implementation of an embedded synchronization and acquisition ASIP for OFDM based systems is proposed. The engine architecture is presented and the programming model is explained in details. The proposed engine is scalable and it can be configured to support a multitude of synchronization algorithms and OFDM standards. While applicable to many OFDM systems, the proposed architecture was successfully verified on long term evolution (LTE Rel. 8) and WiMAX 802.16e systems. A partial list of synchronization and acquisition algorithms are tested on the engine for the two standards, and the results highlight the capabilities of the engine. The processor has been synthesized with 0.18μm standard cell CMOS library. It is estimated to occupy 1.1 mm 2 and the projected power consumption is 7.9mW at 120 MHz, which meets the speed requirements of the tested standards. More results are included within the article.
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