The present invention is a system, apparatus, and method for current MB-OFDM systems to design a time-domain sync sequence regarding DAA that (1) minimizes change to the current sync sequence, and (2) maintains the robustness of synchronization. Two tone-notching embodiments are provided for sync sequence design in the preamble when OFDM systems require detect-and-avoid (DAA) ability. The receiver needn't be aware of the change of sync sequence at the transmitter and can still use the original sync sequence. The design can be used in both DAA and non-DAA transmission modes.