A new sequential decoding algorithm based on branch metric

摘要

A new sequential decoding algorithm with an adjustable threshold and a new method of moving through the decoding tree is proposed. Instead of the path metric of the conventional sequential decoding algorithms, the proposed algorithm uses a branch metric based on maximum-likelihood criterion. Two new parameters, the jumping-back distance and going-back distance, are also introduced. The performance of the algorithm for long constraint length convolution-al codes is compared to those of the other sequential decoding algorithms and the Viterbi algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm is a good candidate for decoding of convolutional codes due to its fast decoding capability and good bit error rate (BER) performance.