Patent ID: 7586837

Claim:
A method of searching for time offset information embedded in a first signal, comprising: correlating the first signal with a second signal by adjusting a phase of the first signal with respect to the second signal to produce a plurality of first correlated values for each of the first signal phases; transforming the first correlated values for each of the first signal phases into a plurality of second correlation values related to a frequency content of their respective first correlation values, wherein the frequency content of the first correlation values for each of the first signal phases comprises a plurality of frequency components, the second correlation values for each of the first signal phases each corresponding to a different one of the frequency components; and searching for the time offset information by evaluating the second correlation values, wherein searching comprises identifying the second correlation value with a maximum magnitude over a first portion of the first signal phases and identifying the second correlation value with a maximum magnitude over a second portion of the first signal phases, noncoherently combining the second correlation values for the frequency components having the identified second correlation values to produce a plurality of third correlation values, and using the third correlation value having a maximum magnitude to determine whether the time offset information is present.