Iterative reduced-search decoding for coded partial-response channels

The full-complexity soft-input/soft-output (SISO) detector based on the BCJR algorithm for coded partial-response channels has a computational complexity growing exponentially with channel memory length. In this letter, we propose a low complexity soft-output channel detector based on the Chase decoding algorithm, which was previously applied to decode turbo product codes. At each iteration, the proposed detector forms a candidate list using all possible combinations of bit patterns in the weakest indices based on tentative hard estimates and a priori information fed back from the outer decoder. To demonstrate the performance/complexity tradeoff of the proposed detector, simulation results over rate-8/9 turbo-coded EPR4 and ME/sup 2/PR4 channels are presented, respectively. It is shown that the proposed detector can significantly reduce the computational complexity with only a small performance loss compared to the BCJR algorithm.