DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD STATE IN A DECODING DEVICE

A device for selecting an ML (Maximum Likelihood) state in a decoding device comprising a plurality of cells arranged in a matrix of rows and columns, and a plurality of select lines. In the device, each select line is connected to all cells in a corresponding row, the select lines receive associated path select signals, each cell in a column is connected to cells in an immediately preceding column so that the cell receives a plurality of state values according to a trellis structure of the decoding device, each cell in a first column receives a plurality of state values determined according to the trellis structure of an encoder, said each first column cell selects one of the received state values in response to the select signal to store the selected state value, and cells in the last column output a state value corresponding to the ML state.