The Performance of Forced-Erasure Decoding

Forced-erasure decoding, an easily implementable technique for realizing the fullest capability of a code, is described and evaluated. This type of decoding combines the implementation simplicity of digital decoding with the performance enhancement expected of correlation decoding techniques. Adaptive versions, with and without interleaving for fading channels, are also treated. The simulation of representative channels is described, and the performances of forced-erasure decoding, correlation decoding, and digital decoding on these channels are determined and compared.