On decoding rules to minimize the probability of information bit errors

Decoding rules to minimize the probability of information bit errors in binary linear block codes are investigated. A novel decoding rule is proposed and compared to a recently proposed rule (see M. Elia and G. Prati, 1985) and to the standard rule, with respect to both the information bit error rate and the information word error rate. It is concluded that the proposed rule not only can be implemented much more efficiently that the standard rule, but also is superior with respect to either error rate. Some particular codes have been presented to show that the authors' rule can coincide or can differ from Elia and Prati's rule when applied to a given code. >