On the real time implementation of the turbo decoder in a 3G mobile communication system

The complexity associated with the turbo decoding algorithm implies the necessity of an optimised implementation that allows the decoder to work in real time systems. The main constraints are: the algorithm needs to complete a frame reception in order to decode the first bit; and the iterative algorithm used to match the performance requirements delays the decoding flow. Several analyses are presented in this paper to address these constraints: a study of truncating algorithms and the trade-off between system performance and number of iterations to combat the delay associated with the decoding process; and finite arithmetic and computational complexity study in order to determine the memory requirements and processing speed restrictions.