A soft decoding scheme for vector quantization over a CDMA channel

The optimal decoding of vector quantization (VQ) over a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) channel is too complicated for systems with a medium-to-large number of users. This paper presents a low-complexity, suboptimal decoder for VQ over a CDMA channel. The proposed decoder is built from a soft-output multiuser detector, a soft bit estimator, and the optimal soft VQ decoding of an individual user. Simulation results obtained over both additive white Gaussian noise and flat Rayleigh fading channels show that with a lower complexity and good performance, the proposed decoding scheme is an attractive alternative to the more complicated optimal decoder.