Memory management in traceback Viterbi decoders

Abstract

The new Viterbi decoder for long constraint length codes, under development for the Deep Space Network, stores path information according to an algorithm called traceback. The details of a particular implementation of this algorithm, based on three memory buffers, are described. The penalties in increased storage requirement and longer decoding delay are offset by the reduced amount of data that needs to be exchanged between processors, in a parallel architecture decoder.