Multistage decoding algorithm of block coding modulation

Considering relatively higher requests of complexity of decoding algorithms due to the demand of higher decoding speed in some telecommunication systems, a multistage decoding algorithm was given based on the multilevel structure of block coding modulation (BCM). Each stage of the algorithm refers to decoding of each component code in BCM: From the first component code to the last one, each component code was decoded by a soft-decision decoder based on the judgment of the maximum likelihood progressively, thus the decoding complexity was decreased. As is illustrated in the results of the simulation, the error performance of the system applying this algorithm is approximately the same as the error performance of the system applying the Viterbi decoding algorithm, and the former is even much better than the latter when the signal-noise ratio is relatively lower, while the decoding complexity of the former is much lower than that of the latter.