Patent ID: 7760837

Claim:
A synchronization determination method, comprising: a synchronization determining step of determining whether or not synchronization has been successfully performed by detecting a synchronous pattern from a demodulated data input as a data stream; a synchronization probability determining step of determining whether or not there is a probability that synchronization is successfully performed using progress of detecting a synchronous pattern in the synchronization determining step; and a synchronization determination discard step of discarding a determination in the synchronization determining step when it is determined in the synchronization probability determining step that there is no probability that synchronization is successfully performed, and passing control to a process performed when it is determined in the synchronization determining step that synchronization has not been successfully performed, wherein the synchronization determining step determines whether or not synchronization has been successfully performed based on whether or not a synchronous pattern has been detected in a first amount of predetermined continuous data in the demodulated data input as the data stream, the synchronization determining step determines that synchronization has been successfully performed when a synchronous pattern has been detected in the first amount of predetermined continuous data in a first predetermined time after a start of a determination as to whether or not synchronization has been successfully performed, and the synchronization probability determining step determines that there is a probability that synchronization is successfully performed when a synchronous pattern is detected in a second amount of predetermined continuous data smaller than the first amount of predetermined continuous data in a second predetermined time shorter than the first predetermined time after a start of a determination in the synchronization determining step as to whether or not synchronization has been successfully performed.