Algebraic decoding for doubly cyclic convolutional codes

An iterative decoding algorithm for convolutional codes is presented. It successively processes N consecutive blocks of the received word in order to decode the first block. A bound is presented showing which error configurations can be corrected. The algorithm can be efficiently used on a particular class of convolutional codes, known as doubly cyclic convolutional codes. Due to their highly algebraic structure those codes are well suited for the algorithm and the main step of the procedure can be carried out using Reed-Solomon decoding. Examples illustrate the decoding and a comparison with existing algorithms is made.