Communication signal decoding with iterative cooperation between turbo and reed-solomon decoding

Abstract

Received communication signals may be decoded according to a combined turbo-RS (Reed-Solomon) decoding technique. The turbo decoding is based on information produced by the RS decoding.

1 . An apparatus for processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 an input for receiving the data signals;   a turbo decoder coupled to said input and configured to perform turbo decoding; and   a Reed-Solomon (RS) decoder coupled to said turbo decoder and configured to perform RS decoding;   wherein said turbo decoding is based on RS decoding information produced by said RS decoding.   
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said RS decoding information includes extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding. 
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein said RS decoding is based on extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said RS decoding is based on extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said RS decoder is a soft input-soft output (SISO) decoder. 
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , including a belief propagation updating rule coupled between said turbo decoder and said RS decoder, and configured to apply belief propagation to one of extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , including a further belief propagation updating rule coupled between said turbo decoder and said RS decoder, and configured to apply belief propagation to the other of said extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and said extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , including a belief accumulation updating rule coupled between said turbo decoder and said RS decoder, and configured to apply belief accumulation to one of extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , including a belief propagation updating rule coupled between said turbo decoder and said RS decoder, and configured to apply belief propagation to the other of said extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and said extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said RS decoding implements one of belief propagation decoding and belief accumulation decoding at the variable node for RS SISO decoding. 
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said RS decoding implements a min sum algorithm at the check node for RS SISO decoding. 
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the communication link is a wireless communication link. 
   
   
       13 . A method of processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 receiving the data signals; and   decoding the data signals, including performing turbo decoding and performing RS decoding;   wherein said turbo decoding is based on RS decoding information produced by said RS decoding.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said RS decoding information includes extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein said RS decoding is based on extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said RS decoding is based on extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 13 , including applying belief propagation to one of extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding, and using a result of said belief propagation to produce the other of said extrinsic information. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , including applying further belief propagation to the other of said extrinsic information, and using a result of said further belief propagation to produce said one of said extrinsic information. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , including applying belief accumulation to one of extrinsic information produced by said RS decoding and extrinsic information produced by said turbo decoding, and using a result of said belief accumulation to produce the other of said extrinsic information. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , including applying belief propagation to the other of said extrinsic information, and using a result of said belief propagation decoding to produce said one of said extrinsic information. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said RS decoding includes RS SISO decoding. 
   
   
       22 . An apparatus for processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 means for receiving the data signals; and   means for decoding the data signals, including means for performing turbo decoding and means for performing RS decoding;   wherein said turbo decoding is based on RS decoding information produced by said RS decoding.   
   
   
       23 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a computer-readable medium comprising:
 code for causing at least one data processor to perform turbo decoding; 
 code for causing the at least one data processor to perform RS decoding; 
 code for causing the at least one data processor to use said turbo decoding and said RS decoding in combination to decode data signals received via a communication link; 
 wherein said turbo decoding is based on RS decoding information produced by said RS decoding. 
   
   
   
       24 . An apparatus for processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 an input for receiving the data signals;   an inner decoder coupled to said input and configured to perform inner decoding; and   an outer decoder coupled to said inner decoder and configured to perform outer decoding;   wherein said inner decoding is based on outer decoding information produced by said outer decoding.   
   
   
       25 . A method of processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 receiving the data signals; and   decoding the data signals, including performing inner decoding and performing outer decoding;   wherein said inner decoding is based on outer decoding information produced by said outer decoding.   
   
   
       26 . An apparatus for processing data signals transmitted on a communication link, comprising:
 means for receiving the data signals; and   means for decoding the data signals, including means for performing inner decoding and means for performing outer decoding;   wherein said inner decoding is based on outer decoding information produced by said outer decoding.   
   
   
       27 . A computer program product, comprising:
 a computer-readable medium comprising:
 code for causing at least one data processor to perform outer decoding; 
 code for causing the at least one data processor to perform inner decoding; 
 code for causing the at least one data processor to use said inner decoding and said outer decoding in combination to decode data signals received via a communication link; 
 wherein said inner decoding is based on outer decoding information produced by said outer decoding.