IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)
An Algorithm For Soft Decoding Of Block Codes
Jan Nilsson
Abstract
A well known soft decoding algorithm that can make use of algebraic decoding techniques is the GMD algorithm introduced by Forney. This algorithm is based on several error-erasure decoding trails where unreliable positions are successively erased. Chase proposed a closely related family of algorithms for binary codes where unreliable positions are switched', i.e. different estimates for the positions are used in intermediate steps during the decoding process. In our algorithm, suitable for non binary codes, we try to combine erasures and switchings in a favourable way. A version of the algorithm comparable in complexity with the GMD algorithm is investigated. Simulations show that our algorithm in many cases has a somewhat better error correcting capability then the GMD algorithm.