Patent ID: 7219290

Claim:
A turbo decoder which receives an information signal, a first additional signal and a second additional signal, the turbo decoder generating previous likelihood data for decoded data obtained by decoding the information signal and iteratively decoding the information signal based on the previous likelihood data, the turbo decoder comprising: a first soft-decision decoding portion which implements a first soft-decision decoding process of the information signal based on the first additional signal and the previous likelihood data, to output first likelihood data; a first interleaver for permuting the first likelihood data in accordance with a predetermined rule and outputting permuted first likelihood data; a second interleaver for permuting the information signal in accordance with the predetermined rule and outputting a permuted information signal; a second soft-decision decoding portion which implements a second soft-decision decoding process of the information signal based on the permuted information signal, the second additional signal and the permuted first likelihood data, to output second likelihood data; a third interleaver for permuting the second likelihood data in accordance with a predetermined rule and outputting permuted second likelihood data; and a decoding calculator which, based on the first likelihood data and the permuted second likelihood data, implements a decoding process of the information signal to output decoded data, wherein the decoding calculator is configured to also implement a decoding process of the information signal based on the previous likelihood data and the first likelihood data.