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A novel offline indoor acoustic synchronization protocol: experimental analysis

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Abstract

Smart electronic devices are playing a fundamental role in modern home and industrial applications. The increased reliance on such devices, especially in time critical and secure applications, intensifies the need for time synchronization among multiple devices. This work presents a novel audio-based, cheap, offline synchronization method, whereby multiple slaves synchronize simultaneously to a master within a single room. Synchronization is carried out under the proposed protocol in a way that is independent of the physical location of the target devices, which in turn are not required to have any sort of network connectivity. The proposed method relies on the transmission of a De Bruijn sequence that holds the information required for the slaves to synchronize. The effectiveness of the proposed synchronization protocol is validated through an in-house experimental setup. Synchronization at distances of up to 250 cm between the master and a slave was achieved.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the efforts of Aymane El Baarini, Christelle Saliba, Rayan Al Sobbahi in conducting portions of the lab experiments.

Funding

This project has been jointly funded with the support of the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon CNRS-L and the Lebanese American University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon

    Zahi Nakad, Mohammad Ali Sayed, Anthony Yaghi, Harag Margossian & Wissam Fawaz

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  1. Zahi Nakad
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  2. Mohammad Ali Sayed
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  3. Anthony Yaghi
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  4. Harag Margossian
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  5. Wissam Fawaz
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Correspondence to Wissam Fawaz.

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Nakad, Z., Sayed, M.A., Yaghi, A. et al. A novel offline indoor acoustic synchronization protocol: experimental analysis. Ann. Telecommun. 77, 221–236 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-021-00877-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-021-00877-5

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