Physical Cell ID Detection Using Joint Estimation of Frequency Offset and SSS Sequence for NR Initial Access

This paper proposes a physical-layer cell identity (PCID) detection method that employs joint estimation of a frequency offset and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) sequence for the 5G new radio (NR) initial access with beamforming transmission at a base station. Computer simulation results show that by using the PCID detection method with the proposed joint estimation, an almost identical PCID detection probability to the primary synchronization signal (PSS) detection probability is achieved for an average received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of higher than approximately -5 dB. The results suggest that the residual frequency offset is compensated to a sufficiently low level leading to accurate SSS sequence estimation. The results also show that by using the PCID detection method, high PCID detection probabilities of greater than 90% and 50% are achieved at the carrier frequencies of 30 GHz and 50 GHz, respectively, at the average received SNR of 0 dB at the frequency stability for a local oscillator in a set of user equipment of 3 ppm.