1. A method for effectuating access to always current and accurate contact information, comprising:
providing an entity which is capable of storing, retrieving, analyzing, and rearranging contact information electronically, and which is connectable electronically to users;
wherein upon submission of contact information from multiple users, some or all contact information elements are searched and analyzed for similarity based upon predetermined criteria, and links or pointers to identified entries are established, which enable users to update or change contact information electronically, and have those updates or changes be reflected substantially immediately to users.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers are performed substantially immediately upon submission of contact information from a user.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers are performed periodically independent of any user action.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein users are notified of results of search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers substantially immediately upon completion of search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein users are provided an option to review existing links or pointers and to remove unwanted links or pointers.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein links or pointers are established upon entry of an alpha-numeric code defined and provided by users or the entity which is capable of storing, retrieving, analyzing, and rearranging contact information electronically and which is connectable electronically to users.
7. A system for effectuating access to always current and accurate contact information, comprising:
an entity which is capable of storing, retrieving, analyzing, and rearranging contact information electronically, and which is connectable electronically to users;
wherein upon submission of contact information from multiple users, some or all contact information elements are searched and analyzed for similarity based upon predetermined criteria, and links or pointers to identified entries are established, which enable users to update or change contact information electronically, and have those updates or changes be reflected substantially immediately to users.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers are performed substantially immediately upon submission of contact information from a user.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers are performed periodically independent of any user action.
10. The method and system of claim 7, wherein users are notified of results of search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers substantially immediately upon completion of search and analysis of contact information elements and establishment of links or pointers.
11. The method and system of claim 7, wherein users are provided an option to review existing links or pointers and to remove unwanted links or pointers.
12. The method and system of claim 7, wherein links or pointers are established upon entry of an alpha-numeric code defined and provided by users or the entity which is capable of storing, retrieving, analyzing, and rearranging contact information electronically and which is connectable electronically to users.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising:
during a first iteration of a first decoder for decoding convolutionally encoded data elements, determining a first value of a first path metric by calculating a full trace across a trellis in the forward direction and storing the first value of the first path metric, and determining a first value of a second path metric by performing a partial trace across the trellis in the reverse direction; and
during a second iteration of the first decoder, determining a second value of the first path metric by retrieving the first value of the first path metric and using the retrieved first value as an initial value of the first path metric, determining a second value of the second path metric, and storing the second value of the second path metric;
wherein storing values of the first path metric and the second path metric alternate with subsequent iterations, values of the first path metric are stored when the values of the first path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the forward direction, and values of the second path metric are stored when the values of the second path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the reverse direction.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
during the first iteration of a first decoder, providing extrinsic data from the first decoder to a second decoder.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
prior to the second iteration of the first decoder, receiving extrinsic data at the first decoder from the second decoder.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first decoder is a linear decoder of a Turbo decoder.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the second decoder is an interleaved decoder of a Turbo decoder.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial trace across a trellis in the backward direction is from initial values set to zero.
7. A computing device comprising:
a first decoder for decoding convolutionally encoded data elements, the first decoder is configured to, during a first iteration, determine a first value of a first path metric by calculating a full trace across a trellis in the reverse direction and store the first value of the first path metric in a storage medium of the computing device, and determine a first value of a second path metric by calculating a full trace across the trellis in the forward direction, the first decoder is further configured to, during a second iteration, determine a second value of the first path metric by retrieving the first value of the first path metric from the storage medium and using the retrieved first value as an initial value of the first path metric, determine a second value of the second path metric and store the second value of the second path metric in the storage medium;
wherein storing values of the first path metric and the second path metric alternate with subsequent iterations, and in subsequent iterations, values of the first path metric are stored when the values of the first path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the reverse direction, and values of the second path metric are stored when the values of the second path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the forward direction.
8. The computing device of claim 7, further comprising:
a second decoder for receiving extrinsic data from the first decoder during the first iteration.
9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the first decoder receives extrinsic data from the second decoder prior to the second iteration of the first decoder.
10. A non-transitory computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier and comprising instructions stored in the information carrier that when executed by a processor perform a method comprising:
during a first iteration of a first decoder for decoding convolutionally encoded data elements, determining a first value of a first path metric and storing the first value of the first path metric in a storage medium of the information carrier, and determining a first value of a second path metric; and
during a second iteration of the first decoder, determining a second value of the first path metric by retrieving the first value of the first path metric and using the retrieved first value as an initial value of the first path metric, determining a second value of the second path metric, and storing the second value of the second path metric in the storage medium;
wherein storing values of the first path metric and the second path metric alternate with subsequent iterations, and in subsequent iterations, values of the first path metric are stored when the values of the first path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the forward direction, and values of the second path metric are stored when the values of the second path metric are determined by performing a full trace in the reverse direction.
11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein determining the first value of the first path metric includes calculating a full trace across a trellis in the forward direction, and determining the first value of the second path metric includes calculating a full trace across a trellis in the reverse direction.
12. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising instructions that when executed by the processor perform a method comprising:
during the first iteration of a first decoder, providing extrinsic data from the first decoder to a second decoder.