Correlator for DSSS communications

Claim 1

A correlator for processing a direct sequence spread spectrum communication system signal, wherein digital data comprised of data bits at a data bit rate is modulated by a first pseudo-noise code comprised of a sequence of chips having a pseudo-noise chip rate greater than said data bit rate, each chip having a chip period, said sequence repeating at a code period, and the pseudo-noise modulated data modulates a carrier resulting in said signal, said correlator comprising: a sampler for producing digital samples of said signal; a pseudo-noise code generator producing a second pseudo-noise code replicating said first pseudo-noise code; a first multiplier coupled to said pseudo-noise generator producing a first correlation of the sampled signal and the second pseudo-noise code; a delay device having a time delay equivalent to one chip period coupled to said pseudo-noise generator; a second multiplier coupled to said pseudo-noise generator through said delay device having a time delay equivalent to one chip period, and coupled to said sampler to produce a second output corresponding to a second correlation of the sampled signal and the second pseudo-noise code delayed by one chip period; a first integrator coupled to the output of said first multiplier for intergrating the output of the first multiplier to produce at an output a first correlated signal energy value corresponding to the signal energy of said first correlation; a second integrator coupled to the output of said second multiplier for intergrating the output from the second multiplier to produce at an output a second correlated signal energy value corresponding to the signal energy of said second correlation; a combiner coupled to the outputs of said first and second intergrator for combining said first and second correlated signal energy values to obtain the combined value of correlated signal energy from said first and second intergrators; and a synchronizer coupled to said combiner for time syncronizing the second pseudo-noise code to maximize the combined value of correlated signal energy, thereby time locking said first pseudo-noise code and said second pseudo-noise code.