On the iterative decoding of multilevel codes

Iterative decoding of multilevel coded modulation is discussed. Despite its asymptotic optimality with proper design, the error correcting capability of multilevel codes may not be fully exploited for finite block length with conventional multistage decoding. This fact stems from the suboptimality of multistage decoding giving rise to increased error multiplicity at lower index stages and the associated error propagation to higher stages. Such problems can be overcome in many situations by introducing iterative decoding which often significantly compensates the suboptimality of a staged decoder. The class of multilevel codes achieving practically important bit-error performance near the Shannon limit becomes far wider with iterative decoding.