A Differential Architecture for an Online Analog Viterbi Decoder

A differential architecture of an analog Viterbi decoder is presented. Analog processing enables the analog-digital converter to be excluded from the decoder realization. Moreover, high-speed operation can be achieved via differential processing. We describe the differential operation, together with the resulting decoder structure. The differential architecture enables the trace-back memory to be excluded and makes online decoding after initial transitional stages possible. We analyze the performance of the differential analog decoder by including analog circuit nonidealities in the system-level model. The decoder obeys a nonlinear transfer function, and the monotonical growth of path metrics is avoided by scaling and subtraction of the global minimum. The resulting differential analog decoder performance is compared with the performance of a 3-bit soft-decision digital Viterbi decoder. The simulations are performed for a (2,1,7) convolutional code.     

An effective simplifying scheme for Viterbi decoder

A Viterbi decoding algorithm with a scarce-state transition-type circuit configuration, namely the probability selecting states (PSS) mode decoder, is presented. The algorithm has reduced complexity compared to a conventional Viterbi decoder. It is shown that this method has three advantages over the general Viterbi algorithm: it is suitable to the quick look-in code, it applies the optimum decoding in a PSS-type decoder, and it makes full use of the likelihood concentration property. The bit-error-rate (BER) performance of a r=1/2, k=7 (147,135) code and PSS-type Viterbi decoder approximates the optimum performance of the standard Viterbi decoder and reduces the hardware of the conventional Viterbi decoder to about half     

High rate concatenated coding systems using bandwidth efficienttrellis inner codes

High-rate concatenated coding systems with bandwidth-efficient trellis inner codes and Reed-Solomon (RS) outer codes are investigated for application in high-speed satellite communication systems. Two concatenated coding schemes are proposed. In one the inner code is decoded with soft-decision Viterbi decoding, and the outer RS code performs error-correction-only decoding (decoding without side information). In the other the inner code is decoded with a modified Viterbi algorithm, which produces reliability information along with the decoded output. In this algorithm, path metrics are used to estimate the entire information sequence, whereas branch metrics are used to provide reliability information on the decoded sequence. This information is used to erase unreliable bits in the decoded output. An errors-and-erasures RS decoder is then used for the outer code. The two schemes have been proposed for high-speed data communication on NASA satellite channels. The rates considered are at least double those used in current NASA systems, and the results indicate that high system reliability can still be achieved     

A scarce-state-transition Viterbi-decoder VLSI for bit error correction

A high-speed Viterbi decoder VLSI with coding rate R=1/2 and constraint length K=7 for bit-error correction has been developed using 1.5-/spl mu/m n-well CMOS technology. To reduce both hardware size and power dissipation, a recently developed scarce-state-transition (SST) Viterbi decoding scheme has been utilized. In addition, three-layer metallization and an advanced hierarchical macrocell design method (HMCM) have been adopted to improve packing density and reduce chip size. As a result, active chip area has been reduced by half, compared to the conventional standard cell design method (SCM) with two-layer metallization, and 42 K gates have been integrated on a chip with a die size of 9.52/spl times/10.0 mm/SUP 2/. The VLSI decoder has achieved a maximum data throughput rate of 23 Mb/s with a net coding gain of 4.4 dB (at 10/SUP -4/ bit-error rate). The chip dissipates only 825 mW at a data rate of 10 Mb/s.     

An improved pipelined MSB-first add-compare select unit structure for Viterbi decoders

Convolutional codes are widely used in many communication systems due to their excellent error-control performance. High-speed Viterbi decoders for convolutional codes are of great interest for high-data-rate applications. In this paper, an improved most-significant-bit (MSB) -first bit-level pipelined add-compare select (ACS) unit structure is proposed. The ACS unit is the main bottleneck on the decoding speed of a Viterbi decoder. By balancing the settling time of different paths in the ACS unit, the length of the critical path is reduced as close as possible to the iteration bound in the ACS unit. With the proposed retimed structure, it is possible to decrease the critical path of the ACS unit by 12% to 15% compared with the conventional MSB-first structures. This reduction in critical path can reduce the level of parallelism (and area) required for a very high-speed Viterbi decoder.     

High-performance Viterbi decoder with circularly connected 2-D CNN unilateral cell array

A very-high-performance Viterbi decoder with a circularly connected two-dimensional analog cellular neural network (CNN) cell array is disclosed. In the proposed Viterbi decoder, the CNN cells with nonlinear unilateral connections are implemented with electronic circuits at nodes on a trellis diagram. The circuits are circularly connected, forming a cylindrical shape so that the cells of the last stage are connected to those of the first stage. Unilateral connections guide the information to flow circularly around the cylindrical surface. Such configuration enables the conceptually infinite length of the trellis diagram to be reduced to a circuit of limited size. The analog circuits does not require any analog-digital converters, which is the major cause of high power consumption and the quantization error. With the parallel analog processing structure, its decoding speed becomes very high. Also, the decoding mechanism using triggering wave of the CNN circuit does not require the path memory. Circuits for the proposed structure have been designed with HSPICE. Features of the proposed Viterbi decoder are compared with those of the conventional digital Viterbi decoder.     

一种串行Viterbi译码器的FPGA设计与实现

介绍了基于超宽带(UWB)通信系统的(2,1,6)卷积码和Viterbi译码基本原理,设计了串行Viterbi译码器以及各个子模块实现电路,采用Altera公司的Apex20ke系列FPGA来综合实现,完成了Viterbi译码器硬件设计.该设计使用串行结构,回溯算法,占用LEs仅2195个,与并行译码相比节省了约50%的硬件资源.     

Low-Power Limited-Search Parallel State Viterbi Decoder Implementation Based on Scarce State Transition

In this paper, a low-power Viterbi decoder design based on scarce state transition (SST) is presented. A low complexity algorithm based on a limited search algorithm, which reduces the average number of the add-compare-select computation of the Viterbi algorithm, is proposed and seamlessly integrated with the SST-based decoder. The new decoding scheme has low overhead and facilitates low-power implementation for high throughput applications. We also propose an uneven-partitioned memory architecture for the trace-back survivor memory unit to reduce the overall memory access power. The new Viterbi decoder is designed and implemented in TSMC 0.18-mum CMOS process. Simulation results show that power consumption is reduced by up to 80% for high throughput wireless systems such as Multiband-OFDM Ultra-wideband applications.     

DVB-T中Viterbi译码器的设计及FPGA实现

Viterbi作为一种最大似然译码算法广泛应用在数字地面视频广播中,但由于其较高算法复杂程度,对实现高速低功耗时延小且逻辑结构简单的译码器带来了挑战。首先为了实现高速的Vit-erbi译码器,ACSU采用全并行结构,度量值的溢出控制采用取模归一化方法,并简化比较器。其次为了实现低功耗时延小且控制逻辑简单的Viterbi译码器,SMU采用改进的前向追溯结构,只用一组单口的RAM实现译码输出。该译码器在Xilinx Virtex6上实现并验证通过,并具有较好的译码性能。     

一种串行Viterbi译码器的FPGA设计与实现

介绍了基于超宽带（UWB）通信系统的（2,1,6）卷积码和Viterbi译码基本原理,设计了串行Viterbi译码器及各个子模块实现电路,采用Altera公司的Apex20ke系列FPGA来综合实现。完成了Viterbi译码器硬件设计。该设计使用串行结构,回溯算法,占用LEs仅2195个,与并行译码相比节省了约50％的硬件资源。     

An artificial neural net Viterbi decoder

The Viterbi algorithm is a maximum likelihood means for decoding convolutional codes and has thus played an important role in applications ranging from satellite communications to cellular telephony. In the past, Viterbi decoders have usually been implemented using digital circuits. The speed of these digital decoders is directly related to the amount of parallelism in the design. As the constraint length of the code increases, parallelism becomes problematic due to the complexity of the decoder. In this paper an artificial neural network (ANN) Viterbi decoder is presented. The ANN decoder is significantly faster than comparable digital-only designs due to its fully parallel architecture. The fully parallel structure is obtained by implementing most of the Viterbi algorithm using analog neurons as opposed to digital circuits. Several modifications to the ANN decoder are considered, including an analog/digital hybrid design that results in an extremely fast and efficient decoder. The ANN decoder requires one-sixth the number of transistors required by the digital decoder. The connection weights of the ANN decoder are either +1 or -1, so weight considerations in the implementation are eliminated. This, together with the design's modularity and local connectivity, makes the ANN Viterbi decoder a natural fit for VLSI implementation. Simulation results are provided to show that the performance of the ANN decoder matches that of an ideal Viterbi decoder     

Nonrecursive decoding algorithm for PR4 channel

The Viterbi algorithm (VA) is a recursive optimal solution to the state sequence estimation problem. The recursive nature of this algorithm puts limitations on high-speed implementations of Viterbi decoders. The authors propose a nonrecursive suboptimal decoding algorithm for the PR4 channel. The new decoder has negligible performance loss     

Nonrecursive decoding algorithm for PR4 channel

The Viterbi algorithm (VA) is a recursive optimal solution to the state sequence estimation problem. The recursive nature of this algorithm puts limitations on high-speed implementations of Viterbi decoders. The authors propose a nonrecursive suboptimal decoding algorithm for the PR4 channel. The new decoder has negligible performance loss     

A 40 Mb/s soft-output Viterbi decoder

Soft-output decoding has evolved as a key technology for new error correction approaches with unprecedented performance as well as for improvement of well established transmission techniques. In this paper, we present a high-speed VLSI implementation of the soft-output Viterbi algorithm, a low complexity soft-output algorithm, for a 16-state convolutional code. The 43 mm² standard cell chip achieves a simulated throughput of 40 Mb/s, while tested samples achieved a throughput of 50 Mb/s. The chip is roughly twice as big as a 16-state Viterbi decoder without soft outputs. It is thus shown with the design that transmission schemes using soft-output decoding can be considered practical even at very high throughput. Since such decoding systems are more complex to design than hard output systems, special emphasis is placed on the employed design methodology     

An Area-Effective Cell-Based Channel Decoder LSI For a Digital Satellite TV Broadcasting

A new channel decoder LSI, which will be used in digital satellite TV broadcasting Set-Top Boxes, has been designed. This LSI's functions include AD/DA conversion, QPSK demodulating, Viterbi decoding, frame synchronization, convolutional deinterleaving, Reed-Solomon (RS) decoding, and descrambling. We use a new method for Viterbi Decoding called the Tracking Survivor State Information (TSSI) method, which not only reduces power consumption, but also solves the problem of increasing memory size. To reduce the size of RS decoder circuit, we used a three-stage-pipeline structure as well as designed a new architecture to realize Euclid's algorithm. This device has been fabricated in a 0.35 µm 3-metal CMOS standard cell-based process and is composed of 670 K transistors. In this paper, we describe the TSSI method of the Viterbi Decoder and the Reed-Solomon Decoder's new 3-stage pipeline architecture.     

A burst-error-correcting Viterbi algorithm

A dual-mode burst-error-correcting algorithm that combines maximum-likelihood decoding with a burst detection scheme is presented. The decoder nominally operates as a Viterbi decoder and switches to time diversity error recovery whenever an uncorrectable error pattern is identified. It is demonstrated that the new scheme outperforms interleaving strategies under the constraint of a fixed overall decoding delay. It also proves to be more powerful than known adaptive burst decoding schemes, such as the Gallager burst finding scheme. As the new method can be used with soft decision decoding, it is mainly intended for use on random-error channels affected by occasional severe bursts     

一种基于FPGA的Viterbi译码器的研究与设计

针对通信系统中传统维特比(Viterbi)译码器结构复杂、译码延时大、资源消耗大的问题,提出了一种新的基于FPGA的Viterbi译码器设计。结合(2,1,7)卷积编码器和Viterbi译码器的工作原理,设计出译码器的核心组成模块,具体采用3比特软判决译码,用曼哈顿距离计算分支度量,32个碟型加比选子单元并行运算,完成幸存路径和幸存信息的计算。幸存路径管理模块采用Viterbi截短译码算法,回溯操作分成写数据、回溯读和译码读,以改进的流水线进行并行译码操作,译码延时和储存空间分别降低至和。     

Multistage decoding for internally bandwidth efficient coded Poisson fiber-optic CDMA communication systems

We consider the structure and performance of a multistage decoding scheme for an internally bandwidth efficient convolutionally coded Poisson fiber-optic code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system. The decoder is implemented electronically in several stages in which in each stage, the interfering users' coded bit decisions obtained in the previous stage is applied for computing the likelihood of the coded symbols of the desired user. The first stage is a soft-input Viterbi decoder for the internally coded scheme, in which the soft-input coded symbol likelihood values are computed by considering the multiuser interference as a noise signal. The likelihood of coded symbol computed in each stage is then entered into the convolutional decoder for the next bit decisions. The convolutional codes that are used for demonstrating the performance of the multistage decoder are super orthogonal codes (SOCs). We derive the bit error rates (BERs) of the proposed decoder for internally coded Poisson fiber-optic CDMA systems using optical orthogonal codes (OOCs) along with both ON-OFF keying (OOK) and binary pulse position modulation (BPPM) schemes. Our numerical results indicate that the proposed decoding scheme substantially outperforms the single-stage soft-input Viterbi decoder. We also derive the upper bound on the probability of error of a decoder for the known interference case, which is the ultimate performance of a multiuser decoder, and compare the result with that of the soft-input Viterbi decoder.     

一种高速Viterbi译码器的设计与实现

Viterbi算法是卷积码的最优译码算法.设计并实现了一种高速(3,1,7)Viterbi译码器,该译码器由分支度量单元(BMU)、加比选单元(ACSU)、幸存路径存储单元(SMU)、控制单元(CU)组成.在StratixⅡ FPGA上实现、验证了该Viterbi译码器.验证结果表明,该译码器数据吞吐率达到231Mbit/s,在加性高斯白噪声(AWGN)信道下的误码率十分接近理论仿真值.与同类型Viterbi译码器比较,该译码器具有高速、硬件实现代价低的特点.     

一种高速Viterbi译码器的优化设计及Verilog实现

文章设计了一种高速Viterbi译码器，该设计基于卷积码编码及其Viterbi译码原理，完成了Viterhi译码的核心单元算法的优化，并采用Verilog语言编程实现了卷积码编码器和译码器。仿真和综合的结果表明本文设计的译码器速率达50Mbit／s，同时译码器的电路规模也通过算法得到了优化。