Byte synchronization system and method using an error-tolerant synchronization pattern for the PR IV channel

Abstract

The probability of byte synchronization failure for a Viterbi detector in a partial-response class IV (PR IV) system with an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is analyzed. The error rate of the Viterbi detector is computed as a function of the combination of two critical incorrect samples, which is then related to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the samples. New error-tolerant byte-synchronization patterns (ETBSP) and detection circuitry for the partial-response maximum-likelihood (PRML) channel are introduced. The length of the new patterns is 1β shorter than the conventional ones, and the probability of failure is four orders of magnitude lower. The complexity of the circuitry is halved by introducing a new vector subtracter and a new offset adder. © 1998 IEEE.