Minimum variance unbiased estimation of frequency offset in OFDM systems, a blind synchronization approach

We present a novel blind synchronization method for carrier frequency offset estimation of orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) systems. The proposed approach exploits the properties of cyclic prefix subset to reveal the synchronization parameters in the likelihood function of the received vector. Using Neyman-Fisher factorization theorem, the sufficient statistic for estimation of carrier frequency offset is identified. The resulting statistic, when applied to the Rao-Blackwell-Lehmann-Scheffe (RBLS) theorem, results in a robust minimum variance unbiased (MVU) estimate of the synchronization parameter. Statistical and closed loop performance of the estimator is analyzed and assessed by simulation for an OFDM system.