[Discuss-gnuradio] DSSS sync question

[Henry Barton]

Hi all. I've successfully written a DSSS modulator and demodulator in Windows with a chip rate of 16x. It writes samples to a file that the demodulator can read and despread. Before I try any practical implementations, I need to know how a DSSS stream would be synchronized. Assuming the transmitter and receiver were perfectly clocked in unison, what stops the receiver from tuning in in the middle of a byte, thus getting a nibble from the current byte and a nibble from the next?