Patent ID: 8125934

Claim:
A wireless communication receiver for detecting a synchronization (sync) signal in a received data stream comprising: a memory configured to store consecutive portions of the received data stream to provide a stored data stream, wherein the received data stream includes a sync signal comprising a plurality of data bits; a sync signal detector configured to analyze the stored data stream to identify if the sync signal is invalid and, in response to identifying an invalid sync signal, the sync signal detector being further configured to rewind the received data stream stored in the memory to a bit position corresponding to a first data bit after a beginning data bit of the invalid sync signal and to read portions of the stored data stream beginning at the position corresponding to a first data bit after a beginning data bit of the invalid sync signal; a signal processor configured to read and process stored consecutive portions of the received data stream which are stored in the memory following the detected sync signal; wherein the sync signal detector is configured to monitor an error rate of an output signal from the signal processor to determine that the detected sync signal is invalid if the error rate exceeds a threshold.