{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T18:28:20Z","timestamp":1778869700884,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,21]],"date-time":"2015-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1440115200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003329","name":"Ministerio de Econom\u00eda y Competitividad","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TEC2012-38058-C03-03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TEC2012-38058-C03-03"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003329","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003329","name":"Ministerio de Econom\u00eda y Competitividad","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TIN2012-38080-C04-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TIN2012-38080-C04-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003329","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Broadband Power Line Communications (PLC) have taken advantage of the research advances in multi-carrier modulations to mitigate frequency selective fading, and their adoption opens up a myriad of applications in the field of sensory and automation systems, multimedia connectivity or smart spaces. Nonetheless, the use of these multi-carrier modulations, such as Wavelet-OFDM, requires a highly accurate symbol timing estimation for reliably recovering of transmitted data. Furthermore, the PLC channel presents some particularities that prevent the direct use of previous synchronization algorithms proposed in wireless communication systems. Therefore more research effort should be involved in the design and implementation of novel and robust synchronization algorithms for PLC, thus enabling real-time synchronization. This paper proposes a symbol timing estimator for broadband PLC based on cross-correlation with multilevel complementary sequences or Zadoff-Chu sequences and its efficient implementation in a FPGA; the obtained results show a 90% of success rate in symbol timing estimation for a certain PLC channel model and a reduced resource consumption for its implementation in a Xilinx Kyntex FPGA.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s150820825","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,21]],"date-time":"2015-08-21T10:38:09Z","timestamp":1440153489000},"page":"20825-20844","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Efficient Implementation of a Symbol Timing Estimator for Broadband PLC"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Francisco","family":"Nombela","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Electronics Department, University of Alcal\u00e1, Campus Universitario s\/n, Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Enrique","family":"Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electronics Department, University of Alcal\u00e1, Campus Universitario s\/n, Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ra\u00fal","family":"Mateos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electronics Department, University of Alcal\u00e1, Campus Universitario s\/n, Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"\u00c1lvaro","family":"Hern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electronics Department, University of Alcal\u00e1, Campus Universitario s\/n, Alcal\u00e1 de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Dostert, K. (2001). Powerline Communications, Prentice Hall PTR."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"896","DOI":"10.1109\/TPWRD.2003.822540","article-title":"A solution to remote detection of illegal electricity usage via power line communications","volume":"19","author":"Cavdar","year":"2004","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Power Deliv."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1380","DOI":"10.1109\/TCE.2010.5606273","article-title":"Home energy management system based on power line communication","volume":"56","author":"Son","year":"2010","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2010.5439083","article-title":"Power line communication networks for large-scale control and automation systems","volume":"48","author":"Bumiller","year":"2010","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Mohammadi, M., Lampe, L., Lok, M., Mirabbasi, S., Mirvakili, M., Rosales, R., and van Veen, P. (April, January 29). Measurement study and transmission for in-vehicle power line communication. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC), Dresden, Germany."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1109\/30.2948","article-title":"High frequency noise power spectrum, impedance and transmission loss of power line in Japan on intrabuilding power line communications","volume":"34","author":"Tanaka","year":"1988","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1109\/MWC.2002.1160088","article-title":"A power line communication network infrastructure for the smart home","volume":"9","author":"Lin","year":"2002","journal-title":"IEEE Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.3390\/en6010539","article-title":"Enhanced operation of electricity distribution grids through smart metering PLC network monitoring, analysis and grid conditioning","volume":"6","author":"Sendin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Energies"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2377","DOI":"10.3390\/en7042377","article-title":"Strategies for power line communications smart metering network deployment","volume":"7","author":"Sendin","year":"2014","journal-title":"Energies"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1109\/MSP.2011.940267","article-title":"OFDM versus filter bank multicarrier","volume":"28","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Signal Process. Mag."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1622","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sigpro.2011.01.006","article-title":"Joint Use of DFT Filter Banks and modulated Transmultiplexers for multicarrier Communications","volume":"91","year":"2011","journal-title":"Signal Process."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13966","DOI":"10.3390\/s150613966","article-title":"Novel Spectrum Sensing Algorithms for OFDM Cognitive Radio Networks","volume":"15","author":"Shi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Oudah, A.A., Rahman, T.A., and Seman, N. (2012, January 3\u20135). Resource Element-Level Computations for Long Term Evolution Networks. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCCE.2012.6271347"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1673","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2008.2004555","article-title":"OFDM and its wireless applications: A survey","volume":"58","author":"Hwang","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Farhang-Boroujeny, B. (2014). Filter bank multicarrier modulation: A waveform candidate for 5G and beyond. Adv. Electr. Eng.","DOI":"10.1155\/2014\/482805"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1109\/35.755454","article-title":"Synchronization with DMT modulation","volume":"37","author":"Pollet","year":"1999","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stitz, T.H., Ihalainen, T., and Viholainen, A. (2010). Pilot-based synchronization and equalization in filter bank multicarrier communications. EURASIP J. Adv. Signal. Process.","DOI":"10.1155\/2010\/741429"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1613","DOI":"10.1109\/26.650240","article-title":"Robust frequency and timing synchronization for OFDM","volume":"45","author":"Schmild","year":"1997","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"751","DOI":"10.1049\/el:20051249","article-title":"Robust OFDM timing synchronization","volume":"41","author":"Williams","year":"2005","journal-title":"Electron. Lett."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"849","DOI":"10.1109\/TEMC.2010.2052463","article-title":"Analysis of the indoor broadband power-line noise scenario","volume":"52","author":"Canete","year":"2010","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"(2010). IEEE Std 1901\u20132010. IEEE Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications, IEEE."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"822","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2003.814346","article-title":"A robust timing and frequency synchronization for OFDM systems","volume":"2","author":"Minn","year":"2003","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Chen, C., Huang, Y., Wang, Y., Yung, C., and Zeng, X. (2011, January 25\u201328). A robust frame synchronization scheme for broadband power-line communication. Proceedings of the International Conference on ASIC, Xiamen, China."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marques, C.A.G., de Campos, F.P.V., Oliveira, T.R., Menezes, A.S., and Ribeiro, M.V. (2010, January 28\u201331). Analysis of a hybrid OFDM synchronization algorithm for power line communication. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Power Line Communications and Its Applications, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISPLC.2010.5479950"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Tlich, M., Pagani, P., Avril, G., Gauthier, F., Zeddam, A., Kartit, A., Isson, O., Tonello, A., Pecile, F., and D\u2019Alessandro, S. Deliverable D3.2: PLC Channel Characterization and Modelling. Available online: http:\/\/www.ict-omega.eu\/fileadmin\/documents\/deliverables\/Omega_D3.2_v1.2.pdf."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mefenza, M., and Bobda, C. (2013, January 20\u201324). FPGA implementation of subcarrier index modulation OFDM transceiver. Proceedings of the Parallel and distributed Processing Symposium Workshops and PhD Forum (IPDPSW), Cambridge, MA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/IPDPSW.2013.117"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"743","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micpro.2014.05.010","article-title":"A flexible radio transceiver for TVWS based on FBMC","volume":"38","author":"Berg","year":"2014","journal-title":"Microprocess. Microsyst."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Poudereux, P., Mateos, R., Hern\u00e1ndez, A., Cruz-Rold\u00e1n, F., and Oses, D. (2014, January 16\u201319). FPGA-based implementation of a filter bank-based transmultiplexer for multicarrier communications. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Emerging Technology and Factory Automation (ETFA), Barcelona, Brazil.","DOI":"10.1109\/ETFA.2014.7005130"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10326","DOI":"10.3390\/s111110326","article-title":"Measuring time-of-flight in an ultrasonic LPS system using generalized cross-correlation","volume":"11","author":"Villadangos","year":"2011","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_30","first-page":"549","article-title":"A novel encoded excitation scheme in a phased array for the improving data acquisition rate","volume":"14","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6333","DOI":"10.1109\/TSP.2013.2283452","article-title":"Generation and correlation architectures of multilevel complementary sets of sequences","volume":"61","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Signal Process."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"531","DOI":"10.1109\/TIT.1972.1054840","article-title":"Polyphase codes with good periodic correlation properties","volume":"18","author":"Chu","year":"1972","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory"},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Fort, A., Weijers, J.-M., Derudder, V., and Eberle, W. (2003, January 6\u201310). A performance and complexity comparison of auto-correlation and cross-correlation for OFDM burst synchronization. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Hong Kong, China."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nombela, F., Garc\u00eda, E., Ure\u00f1a, J., Hern\u00e1ndez, \u00c1., and Poudereux, P. (2015, January 8\u201311). Robust synchronization for broadband PLC based on Wavelet-OFDM. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Emerging Technology and Factory Automation (ETFA), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.","DOI":"10.1109\/ETFA.2015.7301480"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2136","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2002.806518","article-title":"Cyclic Prefixing or Zero Padding for Wireless Multicarrier Transmissions?","volume":"50","author":"Muquet","year":"2002","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1477","DOI":"10.1109\/TPWRD.2012.2196714","article-title":"A fitting algorithm for random modeling the PLC channel","volume":"27","author":"Tonello","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Power Deliv."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Xilinx Inc. KC705 Evaluation Board for the Kintex-7 FPGA. Available onlone: http:\/\/www.xilinx.com\/support\/documentation\/boards_and_kits\/kc705\/ug810_KC705_Eval_Bd.pdf."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"Xilinx Inc. 7 Series FPGA Overview. Available online: http:\/\/www.xilinx.com\/support\/documentation\/data_sheets\/ds180_7Series_Overview.pdf."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/8\/20825\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T20:47:12Z","timestamp":1760215632000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/15\/8\/20825"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,21]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8]]}},"alternative-id":["s150820825"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s150820825","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,21]]}}}