Locally connected VLSI architectures for the Viterbi algorithm

The Viterbi algorithm is a well-established technique for channel and source decoding in high performance digital communication systems. Implementations of the Viterbi algorithm on three types of locally connected processor arrays are described. This restriction is motivated by the fact that both the cost and performance metrics of VLSI favor architectures in which on-chip interprocessor communication is localized. Each of the structures presented can accommodate arbitrary alphabet sizes and algorithm memory lengths. The relative performance tradeoff s available to the designer are discussed in the context of previous work.