Joint source-channel decoding of entropy coded Markov sources over binary symmetric channels

This paper proposes an optimal joint source-channel, maximum a posteriori, decoder for entropy coded Markov sources transmitted over noisy channels. We introduce the concept of incomplete and complete states to deal with the problem of variable length source codes in the decoder. The proposed decoder is sequential, thereby making the expected delay finite. When compared to the traditional decoder, the proposed decoder shows a maximum improvement, of about 4 dB in a modified signal to noise ratio and an improvement of 21.95% in percentage of bits that are received in an out of synchronization condition, for a simple test source.