Near optimum decoding of product codes

A new iterative decoding algorithm for product codes (block) based on soft decoding and soft decision output of the component codes is described in the paper. Monte Carlo simulations of the bit error rate (BER) after decoding using this new algorithm for different product codes indicate coding gains of up to 8 dB. This new coding scheme is attractive for digital transmission systems requiring powerful coding schemes with a high code rate (R>0.8). In the paper the authors compare their coding scheme with one of the best coding schemes, the "turbo-codes", in terms of BER performance.