List Viterbi algorithms for wireless systems

The conventional list Viterbi algorithm (LVA) produces a list of the L best output sequences over a certain block length in decoding a terminated convolutional code. We show in this paper that the list Viterbi algorithm with a sufficiently long list is the optimum maximum likelihood decoder for the concatenated pair of a convolutional code and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) block code with error detection. The CRC is used to select the output. New LVAs for continuous transmission are proposed and evaluated, where no termination bits are required for the convolutional code for every CRC block. For broadcasting high quality digital audio signals it is beneficial to use error concealment/error mitigation techniques to avoid the worst type of channel errors. We demonstrate how the LVA can significantly reduce the error mitigation flag rate compared to the regular VA for the same transmission parameters. A receiver optional LVA can reduce the flag rate by more than an order of magnitude