Vector Symbol Decoding for Wireless Fading Channels

Error correcting codes have been widely used to
ensure reliable data communications. Nowadays,
wireless communications have become very popular
thanks to their portability and mobility features.
However, they also have problems of burst errors due
to fading and the quality of the channel may vary
quickly between good and bad. This book presents a
decoding technique, called vector symbol decoding
(VSD), which is powerful in correcting long burst
errors. By using large nonbinary symbols, correcting
a few error symbols is equal to correcting a long
burst of error bits. By applying VSD to
convolutional codes, it can decode after receiving
only a small part of received symbols without the
use of interleaving. This book covers its theory,
concept, algorithm, decoding steps, performance
comparison with Reed-Solomon codes and some
implementation approaches for preliminary lab
prototype on FPGA board. This book is for graduate
students and researchers that have some background
on error correcting codes and are interested in new
ideas and approaches.