A 122Mb/s Turbo decoder using a mid-range GPU

Abstract

Parallel implementations of Turbo decoding has been studied extensively. Traditionally, the number of parallel sub-decoders is limited to maintain acceptable code block error rate performance loss caused by the edge effect of code block division. In addition, the sub-decoders require synchronization to exchange information in the iterative process. In this paper, we propose loosening the synchronization between the sub-decoders to achieve higher utilization of parallel processor resources. Our method allows high degree of parallel processor utilization in decoding of a single code block providing a scalable software-based implementation. The proposed implementation is demonstrated using a graphics processing unit. We achieve 122.8Mbps decoding throughput using a medium range GPU, the Nvidia GTX480. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the fastest Turbo decoding throughput achieved with a GPU-based implementation.