Computational complexities and the relative performance of turbo codes

Turbo codes are computationally intensive, but outperform many other channel coding schemes. This paper addresses the computational requirements of turbo codes and how these affect the performance of the coding scheme. Some pointers are given as to how to design codes that both perform well and have a reduced delay. Selection between codes with the same delay can be made based on performance. A formula is also presented that allows the prediction of the delay based on the computational complexities of a particular turbo code.