Convolutional coding for finite-state channels

We propose new decoders for decoding convolutional codes over finite-state channels. These decoders are sequential and utilize the information about the channel state sequence contained in the channel output sequence. The performance of these decoders is evaluated by simulation and compared to the performance of memoryless decoders with and without interleaving. Our results show that the performance of these decoders is good whenever the channel statistics are such that the joint estimate of the channel state sequence and the channel input sequence is good, as, for example, when the channel is bursty. In these cases using even a partial search decoder such as the Fano decoder over the appropriate trellis is nearly optimal. However, when the information between the output sequence and the sequence of channel slates and inputs diminishes, the memoryless decoder with interleaving outperforms even the optimal decoder which knows the channel state