Systems and methods for time synchronization of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based communications are disclosed. A cyclic prefix (CP) correlation-based timing synchronization method is disclosed for early path (e.g. first-received path) detection for OFDM-based communication. Systems and methods are disclosed for performing double peak value detection in an OFDM-based system for reliably detecting an early (e.g., first-received) path in a received OFDM symbol for use in timing synchronization. In the double peak value detection method, a first peak value detection is performed to detect the path with the largest power, and a second peak value detection is then performed to detect a desired early (e.g., first-received) path. A compensation linear curve is used to facilitate the second peak value detection.