Sequential Decoding of Convolutional Codes

Abstract This article surveys many variants of sequential decoding in literature. Rather than introducing them chronologically, this article first presents the Algorithm A, a general sequential search algorithm. The stack algorithm and the Fano algorithm are then described in details. Next, trellis variants of sequential decoding, including the recently proposed maximum‐likelihood sequential decoding algorithm, are discussed. Additionally, decoding complexity and error performance of sequential decoding are investigated, followed by a discussion on the implementation of sequential decoding from various practical aspects. Moreover, classes of convolutional codes that are particularly appropriate for sequential decoding are outlined.