PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF TURBO CODES WITH OTHER ERROR
CORRECTING CODES

     Channel coding is the best method for transmitting information with fewer errors and lower signal power. It is best used for transmitting media that is sensitive to error, such as compressed voice and video, and data. Of course, some types of codes work better than others. To date the best practical code that has been found is the Recursive Systematic Convolutional (RSC) Turbo code. This uses two RSC encoders, separated by an interleaver, for encoding and multiple iterations of the MAP algorithm for decoding. Some advantages to using Turbo codes are that they significantly outperform conventional codes and they use interleavers which reduce burst errors.

     Some of the outstanding performance characteristics of Turbo codes include:
- More than 8.5 dB coding gain compared with an uncoded channel, at a bit error rate (BER) of 10-5. (Coding gain is the difference in signal-to-noise ratio between a coded channel and an uncoded channel.)

Such coding power is extremely important in many telecommunications applications because it either decreases the amount of power necessary for transmitting a signal or increases the range in which the signal can be received. This coding gain can also increase battery life for portable components, as well as increase cell capacity for
cellular and other multiple access environments.The development of this technology is important to telecommunications applications because it increases the amount of data that can be transmitted.