Patent ID: 8923412

Claim:
A method for operating a decoder comprising: receiving a complex signal representative of a received symbol from among a plurality of symbols, with the received symbol comprising a plurality of bits and corresponding to a respective point on a constellation map; generating for the received symbol a plurality of likelihood metrics, with each likelihood metric reflecting a likelihood of the received symbol corresponding to one of the points on the constellation map, and with the plurality of likelihood metrics being arranged in columns and rows; determining common likelihood metrics for each column and for each row; determining which bits in the received symbol are to be compared by columns for selecting best likelihood metrics, and which bits in the received symbol are to be compared by rows for selecting best likelihood metrics; comparing the common likelihood metrics to determine a best likelihood metric for the bits in the received symbol that are to be compared by columns; and comparing the common likelihood metrics to determine a best likelihood metric for the bits in the received symbol that are to be compared by rows.