Turbo Decoder Applications

DVB-RCS2 is the 2nd generation standard defining a return channel via satellite. It achieves better performance by using the more advanced 16-states double-binary turbo codes compared to the 8-states counterparts of its predecessor DVB-RCS. Thus far it is the only standard that uses 16-states double-binary turbo codes. Due to the support of new mappings (8-PSK, 16-QAM) it offers higher data rates and an improved spectral efficiency.

 

Standard	DVB-RCS2
	Second Generation DVB Interactive Satellite System
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2014
Documents	EN301 545-2
Applications	Satellite Communication
IP Cores	Creonic DVB-RCS2 Turbo Decoder and Encoder IP Core
Turbo Codes	Double-binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 16 states, code rates 1/3 - 7/8, tailbiting

In 2005 DVB-RCS was defined as the standard for return channel via satellite and complemented the DVB-S2 standard. It followed DVB-RCT and WiMax in using double binary turbo codes that outperform their binary counterpart. The successor DVB-RCS2 uses 16-states double binary turbo codes resulting in even better error correction performance.

 

Standard	DVB-RCS
	Interaction channel for satellite distribution systems
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2005
Documents	ETSI EN 301 790
Applications	Satellite Communication
IP Cores	Creonic DVB-RCS Turbo Encoder and Decoder IP Core
Turbo Codes	Double-binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, code rates 1/3 - 6/7, tailbiting

In 2011 CCSDS (The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems)  adopted turbo codes by a blue book as "recommended standard".

 

Standard	TM Synchronization and Channel Coding, Blue Book, Issue 2, Recommended Standard.
Organization	CCSDS (The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems)
Publication	2011 (Blue Book)
Documents	CCSDS 131.0-B-2
Applications	Near-Earth and deep space communication
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional codes (PCCC), 16 states, code rates 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, tail bits, block sizes 1784 bits, 3568 bits, 7136 bits, 8920 bits.

The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) is a global satellite network with telephony using portable terminals, operated by Inmarsat. It allows for data rates of hundreds of kbit/s.

 

Standard	Inmarsat BGAN
Organization	Inmarsat
Publication	1999
Documents
Applications	Satellite communication
IP Cores	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional code, 16 states, code rates 1/5 to 1/2, block sizes up to 22.524 payload bits, tail bits

GEO-Mobile Radio (GMR) is a standard for satellite telephony that follows the GSM standard in many ways. Only the three lower layers of the OSI model differ between GMR and GSM (for GMPRS only the two lowest layers).

Two versions of the standard exist: GMR-1 (ETSI TS 101 376) and GMR-2 (ETSI TS 101 377). For GMR-1 three releases exist. Release 3 of GMR-1 adopted turbo codes in 2009. The standard is characterized by low throughput requirements of less than 1 Mbit/s.

 

Standard	GMR-1 Release 3 (GMR-3G or GMR-1 3G)
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2009 (GMR-3G)
Documents	ETSI TS 101 376-5-3 V3.1.1 (GMR-3G)
Applications	Satellite telephony
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, base code rate 1/5, block lengths 200 to 6,000 bits, tail bits.

DVB-SH is a physical layer standard for delivering IP based media content and data to handheld terminals such as mobile phones or PDAs. It uses the same turbo codes as defined by 3GPP2 within the CDMA2000 standard.

 

Standard	DVB-SH
	Digital Video Broadcasting–Satellite services to Handheld
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2007 (DVB), 2011 (ETSI)
Documents	ETSI EN 302 583
Applications	Satellite broadcast to handheld devices
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, tail bits, code rates 1/5 ... 1/2, block size up to 20730 payload bits

LTE (Long Term Evolution) and LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) from the foundation for current 4G networks. Compared to UMTS, the turbo code interleaver was redesigned to simplify the hardware design for high throughput. While LTE offers data rates of up to 150 Mbit/s, LTE-A offers up to 1 Gbit/s.

 

Standard	3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE-Advanced)
	Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)
Organization	3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project)
Publication	2008 (LTE) 2010 (LTE-A)
Documents	Release 8 (LTE) Release 10 (LTE-A)
Applications	High-speed wireless communication for mobile phones and data terminals
IP Core	Creonic LTE-Advanced Turbo Decoder IP Core
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional codes (PCCC), 8 states, tail bits, code rates 0.33 to 0.95, payload block sizes 40 to 6144 bits

In 1999 UMTS became the first standard to incorporate turbo codes after their invention in 1993. It offers throughputs of 384 kbit/s, which is much more compared to what GSM-based 2G networks can provide. UMTS was later extended to support higher throughputs for downlink (HSDPA) and uplink (HSUPA), commonly referred to as HSPA. Another evolution (Evolved HSPA or HSPA+) increases the data rates even further.

UMTS and its evolutions apply the same kind of turbo codes.

 

Standard	3GPP Release 99 (UMTS, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
	3GPP Release 5 (HSDPA), 3GPP Release 6 (HSUPA)
	3GPP Release 7 (Evolved HSPA, HSPA+)
Organization	3GPP
Publication	2000 (UMTS), 2002 - 2004 (HSPA: HSDPA/HSUPA), 2007 (HSPA+)
Documents	Release 99 Release 5 Release 6 Release 7
Applications	3G networks
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional codes (PCCC), 8 states, code rates >= 1/3, block sizes <= 5114 bits payload, tail bits.

CDMA2000 is the competitor to UMTS that was developed by the 3GPP2 consortium.

 

Standard	3GPP2 CDMA2000
Organization	3GPP2
Publication	2000
Documents
Applications	3G Mobile networks
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, tail bits, code rates 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, block size up to 20730 payload bits.

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) was the first standard to adopt double-binary turbo codes for forward error correction. The codes were introduced in IEEE 802.16-2004, and later support was extended in IEEE 802.16-2009. The throughputs of WiMAX systems are typically much less than 100 Mbit/s. Usage of the turbo codes is optional.

 

Standard	IEEE 802.16-2004, IEEE 802.16-2009
	Local and metropolitan area networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems
Organization	IEEE
Publication	2004 (IEEE 802.16-2004), 2009 (IEEE 802.16-2009)
Documents	IEEE 802.16-2004, IEEE 802.16-2009,
Applications	Local and Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WLAN/WMAN)
Turbo Codes	Double-binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, tail-biting, code rates 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, payload block sizes 64 - 2048 bits (IEEE 802.16-2004) and 64 - 8192 bits (IEEE 802.16-2009)

IEEE 802.22 is a standard for wireless broadband access that uses the so-called white spaces between occupied channels in the TV frequency spectrum. The aim of the standard is to bring broadband access to low population density areas. The maximum data rate is about 20 Mbit/s. Due to its cognitive radio techniques, it has the potential to be applied in many regions worldwide.

The standard uses the WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) double binary turbo codes with different interleaver parameters and block sizes. Turbo coding is optional, only support for convolutional coding is mandatory.

 

Standard	IEEE 802.22-2011
	Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRAN)—Specific requirements Part 22: Cognitive Wireless RAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications: Policies and Procedures for Operation in the TV Bands
Organization	IEEE
Publication	2011
Documents	IEEE 802.22-2011
Applications	Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRAN)
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Double binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, code rates 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, tail-biting, payload block sizes 48 - 1920 bits.

TETRA is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by government agencies, emergency services, (police forces, fire departments, ambulance) for public safety networks, rail transport staff for train radios, transport services and the military.

 

Standard	TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio)
	Voice plus Data (V+D); Part 2: Air Interface (AI)
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2006
Documents	EN 300 392-2, V3.1.1 and up
Applications	Mobile Radio
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Binary parallel concatenated convolution code (PCCC), 8 states, tail bits, code rates 1/2, 2/3

DVB-RCT was designed to extend DVB-T systems with a return channel. The data rate is in the range of a few kbit/s only. Due to the limited usability it was never deployed. DVB-RCT was the first standard to adopt double-binary turbo codes. Multiple standards followed using the double-binary version (WiMax, DVB-RCS, DVB-RCS2).

 

Standard	Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
	Interaction channel for Digital Terrestrial Television (RCT) incorporating Multiple Access OFDM
Organization	ETSI
Publication	2002
Documents	ETSI EN 301 958
Applications	Digital TV
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Double binary parallel concatenated convolutional code (PCCC), 8 states, tail-biting, code rates 1/2, 3/4, payload block sizes 144 - 648 bits

IEEE 1901 is a standard for high-speed data transmission via electric power lines. It uses frequencies below 100 MHz and achieves throughputs of hundreds of Mbit/s. The FFT OFDM physical layer was derived from the HomePlug AV standard and uses double binary turbo codes.

 

Standard	IEEE Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications
Organization	IEEE
Publication	2010 (IEEE 1901-2010), 2005 (Homeplug AV)
Documents	IEEE 1901-2010
Applications	Power Line Communication
IP Core	Contact us!
Turbo Codes	Double binary parallel concatenated convolutional codes (PCCC), 8 states, tail-biting, code rates 1/2, 16/21, 16/18, payload block sizes 128, 1088, 4160 bits.