Patent ID: 8406633

Claim:
A method of synchronizing with a data transmission in a passive optical network, wherein the data transmission includes a plurality of data transmission frames each having i) a known transmission duration, and ii) a start boundary identified by a predetermined synchronization pattern, the method comprising: comparing, using a frame delineation circuit, a plurality of data patterns within the data transmission to at least part of a predetermined synchronization pattern; providing, using the frame delineation circuit, a comparison result for each comparison having a match between a data pattern and the at least part of the predetermined synchronization pattern, the comparison result indicating a match between the data pattern and the predetermined synchronization pattern; assigning, using the frame delineation circuit, a frame tracking signal to each one of the plurality of comparison results occurring within the known transmission duration, the frame tracking signal indicating a match between a data pattern and the predetermined synchronization pattern; comparing, using the frame delineation circuit, one or more subsequent data patterns occurring in the data transmission to at least part of the predetermined synchronization pattern for each assigned frame tracking signal, wherein the one or more subsequent data patterns occur in intervals of the known transmission duration as measured from the data pattern corresponding to the frame tracking signal; and generating, using the frame delineation circuit, a synchronization signal associated with a selected one of the frame tracking signals, wherein the synchronization signal indicates a confirmed match between the data pattern corresponding to the selected frame tracking signal and the predetermined synchronization pattern based on the occurrence of the one or more subsequent data patterns matching at least part of the predetermined synchronization pattern for the selected frame tracking signal.