An Analog Viterbi Decoder Array for DS-UWB Receiver

In this paper, we present an analog Viterbi decoder structure suitable for direct sequence UWB applications. Since the UWB receiver has data rates of several hundreds of megabits per second, the elimination of the power consuming A/D converter makes an analog Viterbi decoder a promising alternative to conventional digital decoders. Moreover, the high-speed implementation of the Viterbi decoder is constructed by eliminating the path memory using differential units to model two competitive paths. By comparing the minimum values of these units the decoded output can be produced on-line after initial transitional stages. The simulations are performed for a (2,1,7) convolutional code