JOURNAL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, VOLUME 33, ISSUE 1, JULY 2016

Implementation scenarios for an adaptable

LTE turbo decoder based on BLER
C. Chaikalis
AbstractThe idea of an adaptable SOVA/log-MAP turbo decoder has been well addressed and discussed in published
literature. This work shows that such a decoder can be implemented in LTE standard for AWGN and uncorrelated Rayleigh
fading channels. For physical shared channel (uplink and downlink) we use pipeline turbo decoder architecture and we consider
BLER or FER performance in our analysis. We examine two data rates and for each one we consider the nine possible QCIs
using five frame lengths. Considering BLER and delay limitations for each QCI, log-MAP is proposed for small frames for all
data rates, QCIs and AWGN channel. SOVA represents the proposed choice for larger frame lengths for both AWGN and
uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels and for low data rates. Comparison with already published results considering BER
performance shows similar findings for uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel, whereas for AWGN channel there are different
findings only for log-MAP.
Index Terms AWGN, BLER, LTE, Turbo codes, Uncorrelated Rayleigh fading.

1 INTRODUCTION

reason for the explosion of mobile communications

the last two decades is the use of a new channel coding scheme called turbo coding [1]. Turbo codes
have been adopted as a channel coding scheme in the 4th
generation mobile communications standard LTE (Long
Term Evolution) for high data rates. SISO (Soft Input Soft
Output) decoder is the most important part of the turbo
decoder. The two main algorithms used in a SISO decoder
are SOVA (Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm) [2] and logMAP (Maximum A Posteriori) algorithm [3]. Log-MAP
gives better performance than SOVA, but SOVA is less
complex, resulting in lower latency and thus, according to
[4], the two algorithms share some common operations,
which are defined as reconfigurable. Furthermore, for
the control of the proposed approach of the reconfigurable or adaptable SOVA/log-MAP turbo decoder two parameters are considered: performance and latency (delay)
[4]. Implementation scenarios of the proposed SOVA/logMAP turbo decoder for the 3rd generation mobile communications standard UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) based on BER (Bit Error Rate)
can be found in [4], [5], [6] for different mobile channels.
In LTE standard a mobile terminal communicates with
the E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) via the radio interface, which consists of
three protocol layers: layer 1 (physical layer), layer 2 (data
link layer) and layer 3 (network layer) [7], [8], [9]. In this
paper we concentrate on physical layer.

2 LTE QUALITY OF SERVICE CONCEPT AND BLER

LTE includes the evolution of both radio aspects through
E-UTRAN and non-radio aspects (SAE - System Architecture Evolution) of EPC (Evolved Packet Core) network.
LTE and SAE represent the Evolved Packet System (EPS).
For QoS (Quality of Service) each radio bearer represents
an IP (Internet Protocol) packet flow, which has an associated QCI (Quality of Service Class Identifier) and an
ARP (Allocation and Retention Priority). When the radio
bearer is successfully established, the eNodeB ensures the
QoS over the air interface with the consideration of QCI.

TABLE 1: STANDARDIZED QCIS FOR LTE

Resource
Priority
Packet
BLER
Example
sertype
delay
or FER
vices
budget
(msec)
GBR
2
100
10-1
Conversational
voice
-1
GBR
4
150
10
Conversational
video (live
streaming)
-1
GBR
5
300
10
Nonconversational
video (buffered
streaming)
-1
GBR
3
50
10
Real-time gaming
Non-GBR
1
100
10-1
IMS signaling

Non-GBR

100

10-1

Non-GBR

300

10-1

Non-GBR

300

10-1

Non-GBR

300

10-1

QCI

1
2

C. Chaikalis is with the Department of Computer Science & Engineering,

Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaly, Larissa, 41110,
Greece.

Voice, video
(live streaming),
interactive
gaming
Video (buffered
streaming)
TCP-based
(www, e-mail),
chat, FTP, p2p
file sharing,
progressive
video
The same like
QCI 8

In this paper we assume that each user has only one

radio bearer. The QCI table is given above (Table 1) according to [7], [8], [9]: each QCI can either be GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate) or Non-GBR. Furthermore, each QCI is
characterized by priority, packet delay budget and packet
error loss rate budget [7], [8], [9].
According to published literature BLER (Block Error
Rate) or FER (Frame Error Rate) is defined as the ratio of
the number of erroneous blocks (or frames) received at
the receiver to the total number of blocks sent by the
transmitter. Moreover, according to [7], [8], [9], for LTE
BLER must be 10%. Therefore, in Table 1 we have added
a column addressing the above limitation for all QCIs. We
will use Table 1 in our analysis at the following sections.

zero mean and power spectral density N0/2. The variable

a is a fading amplitude and its value is generated for
each bit k, according to the formula a k = b k 2 + c k 2 ,
where b and c are zero mean statistically independent
Gaussian random variables each having a variance 2=0.5
[11].
To scale the extrinsic information in the turbo decoder
a common factor s=0.7 is used in both algorithms, according to [4], [5]. In order to compute the latency t for our
system, pipeline architecture is assumed for the turbo
decoder. We also assume a single transmitting and receiving antenna in our simulated system. The formulas to
calculate the latency for the two algorithms are the same
as in [4], [5], [6].

3 SIMULATION MODEL

4 IMPLEMENTATION SCENARIOS OF THE PROPOSED

DECODER FOR AWGN CHANNEL

The simulation model is shown in Fig. 1: for a particular

physical data channel (uplink or downlink) every TTI
(Time Transmission Interval), which is 1 msec for LTE,
the data with the characteristics specified in a physical
shared channel (frame or block size or kf bits) is turbo
encoded in the transmitter and decoded in the receiver.
The frame bits must be larger than 40 and less than 6144
according to LTE specifications [7], [8], [9], [10]. Additionally, the turbo encoder parameters (constraint length,
coding rate, turbo encoder inner interleaver) used for the
simulations are those specified for LTE [7], [8], [9], [10].
Furthermore, the two RSC (Recursive Systematic Convolutional) encoders of the turbo encoder are left open (no
tail bits used) and no quantisation is used at the reception
of the data in the decoder (floating point arithmetic).

4.1 Scenario 1
According to Table 2, two LTE implementation scenarios
of the proposed adaptable turbo decoder are examined
using two example bit rates (1 and 30 Mbps). For 1 Mbps
data rate an LTE uplink physical channel is considered
(PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel). Additionally, for 30 Mbps data rate an LTE downlink physical channel (PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel) is considered in our analysis. The maximum values of the data
rates for PUSCH and PDSCH channels are 50 and 100
Mbps, respectively, according to [7], [8], [9].

Fig. 1. Simulation model

For our simulations two mobile channel models are

used: the well-known AWGN (Additive White Gaussian
Noise) channel model and the uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel model. The analysis of the last channel model
follows.
According to Fig. 1, the output bits of the BPSK (Binary
Phase Shift Keying) modulator y are multiplied by fading amplitudes a and then noise n is added to produce
the received bits r. Subsequently, r bits are BPSK demodulated and turbo decoded. With appropriate sampling, the discrete representation of the uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel is r=ay + n where k is an integer
bit index (here k=3i: every symbol has 3 bits), y is a BPSK
symbol amplitude and n is a AWGN component with

Fig. 2. FER (or BLER) vs. Eb/N0 for AWGN channel, various small frames, SOVA and log-MAP (s=0.7).

2016 JOT
www.journaloftelecommunications.co.uk

Fig. 3. FER (or BLER) vs. E /N for AWGN channel,

various large frames, SOVA and log-MAP (s=0.7).
b

Moreover, in Fig. 2 and 3 FER performance simulations

results are presented for an AWGN channel for small and
large frame lengths, respectively. The data rate considered for this scenario is 1 Mbps. The simulations were
carried out for turbo code with all the chosen frame (or
block) lengths, rate 1/3, K=4 and 12 decoder iterations for
improved SOVA and log-MAP (s=0.7). For scenario 1
Eb/No=0.6 dB is used in our analysis.

TABLE 2: SCENARIOS OF LTE TURBO ENCODED PHYSICAL CHANNELS.

scenario

channel

PUSCH

PDSCH

Frame size

40, 1120, 3008,

4800, 6144
40, 1120, 3008,
4800, 6144

Max data
rate Mbps
50

Chosen data
rate - Mbps

100

30

(150 msec) which does not affect the algorithm choice.

Here a potential application is conversational video (live
streaming), according Table 1.
For Table 5 (QCIs 3, 7, 8, 9) it can be seen that the small
frame length of 40 bits cannot be used because for this
QCI the FER must be very low and this requires longer
data frame lengths. It has to be mentioned that QCIs 3, 7,
8 and 9 are grouped together at the same table because all
of them have the same latency limitation. Therefore, the
analysis has to be done at the same table. For the other
small frame length of 1120 bits, log-MAP is proposed because it satisfies both latency and FER criteria. For large
frame lengths of 3008, 4800 and 6114 bits both algorithm
satisfy the two criteria. The asterisk indicates that FER for
SOVA is close to the limit. From Table 1 we can observe
that a suitable application for QCI 3 is non-conversational
video (buffered streaming). On the other hand, a suitable
application for QCI 7 is video (buffered streaming), while
for QCIs 8 and 9 suitable applications are www, e-mail,
chat, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), p2p file sharing and
progressive video.

TABLE 3: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 1, 5, 6 SCENARIO

1.
frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

Max
delay
msec
100

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr. alg.

40

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

None

1120

13.4

37.6

100

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

101.06

100

1.7*10-

7*10-2

10-1

LogMAP
Either*

3008

36.09

4800

57.6

161.2

100

1.1*10-

7.5*10-

10-1

SOVA*

6114

73.72

206.4

100

8*10-2

8*10-2

10-1

SOVA

TABLE 4: QOS PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 2, SCENARIO 1.

At the following Tables and for each scenario, five example frame (or block) lengths (40, 1120, 3008, 4800 and
6144 bits) are used similarly to [12], [13]. For the calculation of latency for SOVA and log-MAP we use the formulas which are given in [4], [5], [6]. For each data rate, all
possible 9 QCIs are applied, with each QCI corresponding
to a possible application, according to Tables 1 and 2.
As can be seen in Table 3 for QCIs 1, 5 and 6 SOVA is
the best turbo decoding algorithm choice since it can satisfy both the FER and latency criteria for large frames.
The asterisk indicates that the FER achieved with SOVA
is very close to the limit (for frame lengths of 3008 and
4800 bits). For a frame of 3008 bits either algorithm can be
used, while for a small frame of 1120 bits, log-MAP satisfies the latency and FER criterion. On the other hand, for
the smallest frame length of 40 bits neither algorithm can
be applied. According to Table 1, a possible application
for QCI 1 is conversational voice, for QCI 5 IMS signaling,
while for QCI 6 voice, live streaming video and interactive gaming.
The analysis is similar for QCI 2 (Table 4). The only
change compared with Table 3 is the looser latency limit

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

Max
delay
msec
150

40
1120

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr. alg.

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

None

13.4

37.63

150

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

LogMAP
Either*

36

101.06

150

1.7*10

4800

57.6

161.2

150

1.1*10-

7.5*10-

10-1

SOVA*

6114

73.7

206.4

150

8*10-2

8*10-2

10-1

SOVA

10

-1

3008

7*10

-2

TABLE 5: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 3, 7, 8, 9 SCENARIO 1.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec

Max
delaymsec

0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

40
1120

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

300

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

None

13.4

37.63

300

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

3008

36.09

101.06

300

1.7*10

4800

57.6

161.28

300

1.1*10-

6114

73.72

206.4

300

8*10-2

7*10

-2

7.5*102

8*10-2

10

-1

10-1
10-1

Pr.
alg.

TABLE 7: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 1, 5, 6 SCENARIO

2.
frame
- bits

sova
td msec

40

LogMAP
Either*

1120
3008

1.2

Either*

4800

1.92

Either

6114

sova
td msec
0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

Max
delay
msec
50

40
1120

13.44

37.63

3008

36.09

4800
6114

40

10-1

LogMAP
SOVA*

5.5*10-

10-1

None

100

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

3.36

100

1.7*10

LogMAP
Either*

5.37

100

1.1*10-

6.88

100

0.44

1.25

3008

1.2

7.5*10-

10-1

SOVA*

4800

8*10-2

10-1

None

6114

10-1

None

50

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

101.06

50

1.7*10-

7*10-2

57.6

161.28

50

1.1*10-

73.72

206.4

50

8*10-2

5.8*10-

1120

5.5*102

Max
FER

0.01

5.8*10-

LogMAP
FER

Max
delay
msec
150

Pr. alg.

2.45

sova
FER

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
FER

1.25

sova
td msec

LogMAP
FER

0.44

frame
- bits

sova
FER

Max
delay
msec
100

In Table 6 (QCI 4) the delay limit is very low (50 msec).

It can be seen that for the largest frame length of 6114 bits
neither algorithm can be applied. For frame lengths of
3008 and 4800 bits SOVA is the best choice (the asterisk
indicates that FER is very close to the limit). For a small
frame of 1120 bits only log-MAP satisfies both FER and
delay criteria, while for the smallest frame length of 40
bits neither algorithm is proposed. A suitable application
is real time gaming for this QCI.

4.2 Scenario 2
For scenario 2 the data rate is 30 Mbps and Eb/No is
0.6 dB. In our analysis we also consider the simulation
results presented in Fig. 2 and 3. As can be seen in Table 7
for QCIs 1, 5 and 6 for all large frame lengths both algorithms are equally suitable. For the smallest frame of 40
bits neither algorithm can be applied. For the other small
frame of 1120 bits, log-MAP is proposed because SOVA
cannot satisfy the FER limit of 10 . The asterisk again indicates that SOVA FER is very close to the FER budget
(10 ), thus we assume that the FER criterion is satisfied.

8*10

-2

7*10

-2

10

7.5*10-

10-1

8*10

-1

-2

10

-1

Either*
Either

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr. alg.

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

None

150

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

3.36

150

1.7*10-

7*10-2

10-1

LogMAP
Either*

1.92

5.37

150

1.1*10-

7.5*10-

10-1

Either*

2.45

6.88

150

8*10-2

8*10-2

10-1

Either

The proposed algorithm for all frame lengths is the

same like above for Table 8 (QCI 2), Table 9 (QCIs 3, 7, 8,
9) and Table 10 (QCI 4). This is because for this scenario
the latency for each algorithm is low. Thus, both algorithms satisfy the latency criterion for all QCIs.
TABLE 9: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 3, 7, 8, 9 SCENARIO 2.
frame
- bits

sova
td msec

40

0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
300

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

-1

1.25

300

2.8*10

3008

1.2

3.36

300

1.7*10-

7*10-2

10-1

LogMAP
Either*

4800

1.92

5.37

300

1.1*10-

7.5*10-

10-1

Either*

6114

2.45

6.88

300

8*10-2

8*10-2

10-1

Either

10

None

0.44

9.8*10

Pr.
alg.

1120

-1

-1

Pr.
alg.

TABLE 8: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 2, SCENARIO 2.

TABLE 6: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 4, SCENARIO 1.

frame
- bits

0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

TABLE 10: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 4, SCENARIO 2.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
50

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

40

5.8*10-

5.5*10-

10-1

None

1120

0.44

1.25

50

2.8*10-

9.8*10-

10-1

3.36

50

1.7*10-

7*10-2

10-1

LogMAP
Either*

3008

1.2

4800

1.92

5.37

50

1.1*10-

7.5*10-

10-1

Either*

6114

2.45

6.88

50

8*10-2

8*10-2

10-1

Either

Pr.
alg.

5 IMPLEMENTATION SCENARIOS OF THE PROPOSED

DECODER FOR UNCORRELATED RAYLEIGH
FADING CHANNEL
5.1

lated Rayleigh fading channel. Moreover, in Fig. 4 and 5

FER performance simulations results are presented for
small and large frame lengths, respectively. The data rate
considered for this scenario is 1 Mbps, while Eb/No=2
dB.
As can be seen in Table 11 for QCIs 1, 5, 6 and Table 12
for QCI 2, SOVA is the proposed turbo decoding algorithm choice since it can satisfy both the FER and latency
criteria for the large frames (blocks) of 4800 and 6144 bits.
On the other hand, for frame lengths of 1120 and 3008 bits
both algorithms satisfy the latency and FER criterion. Furthermore, for the smallest frame length of 40 bits neither
algorithm can be applied. The asterisk for a 1120-bit
frame indicates that SOVA simulated FER is very close to
the FER limit of 10-1, while for a 3008 bits frame the asterisk indicates that log-MAP calculated latency is very close
to the latency limit of 100 msec.

Scenario 1
TABLE 11: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 1, 5, 6, SCENARIO 1.

Fig. 4. FER (or BLER) vs. Eb/N0 for uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel, various small frames, SOVA and logMAP (s=0.7).

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

Max
delay
msec
100

40

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr. alg.

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

1120

13.4

37.6

100

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

3008

36.09

101.06

100

7.4*10-

6.8*10-

10-1

Either*

-1

SOVA

4800

57.6

161.2

100

6.3*10

6114

73.72

206.4

100

1.3*10-

5.8*10
2

7.4*102

10

10-1

SOVA*

For QCIs 3, 7, 8 and 9 (Table 13), for all frame lengths

both algorithms are equally suitable apart from the very
small frame length of 40 bits where neither algorithm can
be applied. It is obvious that both algorithms satisfy the
latency and FER limits for this scenario. Here, the asterisk
indicates that the FER achieved with SOVA is very close
to the FER budget.
TABLE 12: QOS PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 2, SCENARIO 1.

Fig. 5. FER (or BLER) vs. Eb/N0 for uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel, various large frames, SOVA and logMAP (s=0.7).

The same two scenarios of Table 2 (section IV) are also

considered for the LTE implementation of the adaptable
SOVA/log-MAP turbo decoder in the case of an uncorre-

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

Max
delay
msec
150

40
1120

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr. alg.

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

13.4

37.63

150

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

-1

Either*
SOVA

3008

36

101.06

150

7.4*10

4800

57.6

161.2

150

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

150

-1

6114

73.7

206.4

1.3*10
1

6.8*10

7.4*10
2

10

10

SOVA*

In Table 14 (QCI 4) the latency limit is very low (50

msec). It can be seen that for the large frame lengths of
4800 and 6114 bits neither algorithm can be applied due
to the low latency limit. For a frame length of 3008 bits
SOVA is the best choice, while for a small frame length of

1120 bits, either algorithm is proposed (the asterisk indicates that SOVA FER is very close to the limit). Finally, for
the smallest frame length of 40 bits neither algorithm is
proposed due to the high FER achieved which is far away
from the limit.
TABLE 13: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 3, 7, 8, 9 SCENARIO 1.
frame
- bits

sova
td msec

40

0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

1120

13.4

37.63

Max
delaymsec

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

300

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

300

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

Max
FER

Either

36.09

101.06

300

7.4*10

4800

57.6

161.28

300

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

Either

6114

73.72

206.4

300

1.3*10-

7.4*10-

10-1

Either*

10

-1

3008

6.8*10

Pr.
alg.

TABLE 14: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 4, SCENARIO 1.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec

40

0.48

LogMAP
td
msec
1.34

1120

13.44

37.63

Max
delay
msec
50

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

Pr.
alg.

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

50

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

-3

SOVA

3008

36.09

101.06

50

7.4*10

4800

57.6

161.28

50

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-3

None

6114

73.72

206.4

50

1.3*10-

7.4*10-

10-3

None

6.8*10

10

5.2
Scenario 2
For scenario 2 the data rate is 30 Mbps and Eb/No is 2
dB. Our analysis is based on the simulation results presented in Fig. 4 and 5. As can be seen in Tables 15, 16, 17
and 18 for all QCIs, for all frame lengths both algorithms
are equally suitable apart from the very small frame
length of 40 bits where neither algorithm can be applied.
It is obvious that both algorithms satisfy the latency and
FER limits for this scenario. Here, the asterisk indicates
that the FER achieved with SOVA is very close to the FER
budget.

TABLE 15: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 1, 5, 6 SCENARIO 2.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
100

40
1120

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

0.44

1.25

100

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

Either
Either

1.2

3.36

100

7.4*10

4800

1.92

5.37

100

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

100

-1

6114

2.45

6.88

1.3*10
1

7.4*10
2

10

-1

3008

6.8*10

10

Pr.
alg.

Either*

TABLE 16: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 2, SCENARIO 2.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
150

40
1120

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

0.44

1.25

150

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

Either
Either

1.2

3.36

150

7.4*10

4800

1.92

5.37

150

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

150

-1

6114

2.45

6.88

1.3*10
1

7.4*10
2

10

-1

3008

6.8*10

10

Pr.
alg.

Either*

TABLE 17: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCIS 3, 7, 8, 9 SCENARIO 2.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec

40

0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
300

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

0.44

1.25

300

1.3*10

3008

1.2

3.36

300

7.4*10-

6.8*10-

10-1

Either

4800

1.92

5.37

300

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

Either

6114

2.45

6.88

300

1.3*10-

7.4*10-

10-1

Either*

10

-1

1120

7*10

-2

Pr.
alg.

Either*

TABLE 18: QOS, PROPOSED ALGORITHM FOR QCI 4, SCENARIO 2.

frame
- bits

sova
td msec
0.01

LogMAP
td msec
0.04

Max
delay
msec
50

40
1120

0.44

1.25

3008

1.2

4800

1.92

6114

2.45

sova
FER

LogMAP
FER

Max
FER

5.5*10-

5.1*10-

10-1

None

50

1.3*10-

7*10-2

10-1

Either*

3.36

50

7.4*10-

6.8*10-

10-1

Either

5.37

50

6.3*10-

5.8*10-

10-1

Either

50

-1

6.88

1.3*10
1

7.4*10
2

10

Pr.
alg.

Either*

CONCLUSION

In this work we show that an adaptable SOVA/logMAP turbo decoder can be implemented in the next
generation standard LTE. Considering BLER or FER
performance, latency, pipeline turbo decoder architecture, single input-output antennas, five different frame
(block) lengths and two example service scenarios (data rates), we propose a turbo decoding algorithm for
AWGN and uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels.
The proposed turbo decoding algorithm for each frame
length also depends on Eb/N0, the data rate and the
QCI.
As our analysis has shown for AWGN channels, for
large data rates (scenario 2 with 30 Mbps), either
SOVA or log-MAP are proposed for all QCIs and
frame lengths since they both satisfy the FER and latency constraints. There are two exceptions: the first is
the very small frame length of 40 bits, where neither
algorithm can be applied for both scenarios. The second exception is the small frame length of 1120 bits
where log-MAP is proposed.
For small data rates and for scenario 1 (1 Mbps), either algorithm is the proposed choice for QCIs with
loose latency limits (300 msec) apart from the small
frame of 1120 bits where log-MAP is proposed. On the
other hand, for QCIs with tight latency limits (50
msec), SOVA represents the proposed algorithm for
medium and large frames (3008 and 4800 bits), whereas for small frames (1120 bits) log-MAP is preferred.
For even larger frame lengths (6114 bits) no algorithm
is proposed. For QCIs with medium latency limits (100
and 150 msec) SOVA is proposed for large frames,
whereas for medium frames (1120 bits) either algorithm is proposed. Furthermore, for the small frame of
1120 bit, log-MAP is proposed.
As our analysis has shown for uncorrelated Rayleigh
fading channels, for large data rates (scenario 2 with 30
Mbps), either SOVA or log-MAP are proposed for all
QCIs and frame lengths since they both satisfy the FER
and latency constraints. The exception is the very small
frame length of 40 bits, where neither algorithm can be
applied (for both scenarios).
For small data rates and for scenario 1 (1 Mbps), either algorithm is the proposed choice for QCIs with
loose latency limits (300 msec). On the other hand, for
QCIs with tight latency limits (50 msec), SOVA represents the proposed algorithm for medium frames (3008
bits). For larger frame lengths no algorithm is proposed. For QCIs with medium latency limits (100 and
150 msec) SOVA is proposed for large frames, whereas
for medium and small frames (1120 and 3008 bits) either algorithm is proposed.
The research findings described above are similar with
the observations in [12] for uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel, where BER performance is considered.
For [13] again BER is considered and the comparison
with the work presented here shows that in [13] logMAP is proposed for high data rates and all frames,
whereas in this work we show that log-MAP is pro-

posed for all data rates and small frames. Future work
should focus on correlated Rayleigh fading channel
with different mobile terminal speeds.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national
funds through the Operational Program "Education and
Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference
Framework (NSRF) Research Funding Program: ARCHIMEDES III: Investing in knowledge society through
the European Social Fund.

REFERENCES
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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]

[12]

[13]

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Costas Chaikalis was born in Athens, Greece, on March 1973. He

received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering in 1995 from
Technological Educational Institute of Lamia, Greece. He also received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Department of Electronics
and Telecommunications, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK in
1999 and 2003, respectively. During his doctoral studies he worked
as a Research Assistant for Mobile Virtual Center of Excellence
(Mobile VCE), Terminals Group, UK. Costas Chaikalis is the author
or co-author of about 40 technical papers published in international

conferences, journals and book chapters. His research interests are

in all areas of mobile communications but especially in forward error
correction coding, reconfigurable (software radio) architectures,
cross layer architectures and DSP applications. Currently, he is a
lecturer in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering,
Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaly, Larissa,
Greece.