Patent attributes
A method for generating soft bit values for a multi-bit symbol encoded in one or more received signals comprises (a) for a plurality of different combinations of multiple bit values, iteratively generating, for each combination, a metric value based on the one or more received signals. The method further comprises (b) for each iteration, maintaining (i) a global extremum register containing a global extremum of the metric values; (ii) a bit occupancy for the global extremum register; and (iii) a plurality of bit bk registers, one for each bit bk in the symbol. Each bit bk register contains an extremum of the metric values corresponding to combinations of multiple bit values whose bit bk value is opposite the bit bk value of the bit occupancy for the global extremum register. The method further comprises (c) generating, for each bit bk in the symbol, a soft bit value based on a difference between the value in the global extremum register and the value in the corresponding bit bk register.
