We propose a fast and reduced complexity frame and
carrier acquisition scheme for orthogonal frequency-division multiplex
systems which assumes either a continuous or a burst mode
operation in additive white Gaussian noise and frequency-selective
channels. By exploiting the repetitive structure of a training
symbol, a robust frame synchronizer is obtained and shown to resume
to finding the peak of a certain correlation metric that is
obtained by invoking maximum likelihood principles. A modified
carrier estimator that can correct frequency offsets up to two subcarrier
spacings is also proposed. The efficiency of the proposed
synchronization algorithms is illustrated by both theoretical performance
analysis and computer simulations