APP decoding of nonbinary SPC product codes over discrete memoryless channels

Error control coding techniques are widely used in most digital communication systems in order to protect messages against transmission errors. Soft decision decoding such as a posteriori probability (APP) decoding is often used in improving the bit error rate performance. APP decoding of nonbinary single parity check (SPC) product codes is considered when used over discrete memoryless channels. Iterative decoding based on horizontal and vertical decoding of component codes is employed. The soft-outputs obtained from the horizontal decoding are used as the a priori information in the vertical decoding. A computationally efficient decoding procedure is advised in decoding component codes, using a trellis-based forward-only recursion algorithm.