Wilhelm Keusgen

Due to their perfect periodic autocorrelation property, Zadoff–Chu sequences are often used as stimulus signals in the measurement of radio channel responses. In this letter, the cross‐correlation of a linear shift‐invariant system's response to a Zadoff–Chu sequence is derived for the case that a multiplicative perturbation such as phase noise is present at its output. The perturbation signal is shown to incur a spurious discrete Fourier transform, thus degrading the correlation's peak to sidelobe ratio. The implications for the performance limits of channel measurement systems are discussed.