A software simulation study of a (255,223) Reed-Solomon encoder-decoder

A set of software programs which simulates a (255,223) Reed-Solomon encoder/decoder pair is described. The transform decoder algorithm uses a modified Euclid algorithm, and closely follows the pipeline architecture proposed for the hardware decoder. Uncorrectable error patterns are detected by a simple test, and the inverse transform is computed by a finite field FFT. Numerical examples of the decoder operation are given for some test codewords, with and without errors. The use of the software package is briefly described

Erasure declaring Viterbi decoders

Several methods for realizing erasure declaring Viterbi decoders for the (7,1/2) NASA code are discussed. Only bit oriented algorithms are considered. When such decoders are used in a concatenated system with a (255,223) Reed-Solomon decoder, improvements on the probability of word error of at most 0.1 dB were obtained

Soft-decision decoding of some block codes

The performance of certain binary block codes with soft-decision decoding is evaluated by simulation. A construction is proposed to introduce memory on block codes, and simulation results are shown for a trellis code derived from the Nordstrom-Robinson code

Binary weight distributions of some Reed-Solomon codes

The binary weight distributions of the (7,5) and (15,9) Reed-Solomon (RS) codes and their duals are computed using the MacWilliams identities. Several mappings of symbols to bits are considered and those offering the largest binary minimum distance are found. These results are then used to compute bounds on the soft-decoding performance of these codes in the presence of additive Gaussian noise. These bounds are useful for finding large binary block codes with good performance and for verifying the performance obtained by specific soft-coding algorithms presently under development

Cascaded convolutional codes

Due to the hardware design of Galileo's Command and Data Subsystem (CDS), the channel code usable in an S-band (2290-2300 MHz) mission must include the NASA standard (7,1/2) convolutional code. Galileo's hardware encoder for the (15,1/4) code is not usable in S-band mode. However, the need for higher coding gain dictates the use of long constraint length convolutional codes. Theoretical results show how a large subclass of such codes is realizable by using a software encoder in the CDS cascaded with the hardware encoder for the NASA standard code

Emerging standards for still image compression: A software implementation and simulation study

The software implementation is described of an emerging standard for the lossy compression of continuous tone still images. This software program can be used to compress planetary images and other 2-D instrument data. It provides a high compression image coding capability that preserves image fidelity at compression rates competitive or superior to most known techniques. This software implementation confirms the usefulness of such data compression and allows its performance to be compared with other schemes used in deep space missions and for data based storage

Memory management in traceback Viterbi decoders

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

Effects of quantization on symbol stream combining in a convolutionally coded system

Symbol stream combining has been proposed as a method for arraying signals at different antennas. If the received symbol streams are recorded on tape, it is desirable to limit the required storage without significantly affecting the performance. It is shown that 4-bit quantized symbols introduce an E sub b/N sub o penalty of only 0.05 dB

Phobos lander coding system: Software and analysis

The software developed for the decoding system used in the telemetry link of the Phobos Lander mission is described. Encoders and decoders are provided to cover the three possible telemetry configurations. The software can be used to decode actual data or to simulate the performance of the telemetry system. The theoretical properties of the codes chosen for this mission are analyzed and discussed

Performance of concatenated codes using 8-bit and 10-bit Reed-Solomon codes

The performance improvement of concatenated coding systems using 10-bit instead of 8-bit Reed-Solomon codes is measured by simulation. Three inner convolutional codes are considered: (7,1/2), (15,1/4), and (15,1/6). It is shown that approximately 0.2 dB can be gained at a bit error rate of 10(-6). The loss due to nonideal interleaving is also evaluated. Performance comparisons at very low bit error rates may be relevant for systems using data compression