Algebraic Soft-Decision Decoding of Hermitian Codes

An algebraic soft-decision decoder for Hermitian codes is presented. We apply Koetter and Vardy's soft-decision decoding framework, now well established for Reed-Solomon codes, to Hermitian codes. First we provide an algebraic foundation for soft-decision decoding. Then we present an interpolation algorithm finding the Q-polynomial that plays a key role in the decoding. With some simulation results, we compare performances of the algebraic soft-decision decoders for Hermitian codes and Reed-Solomon codes, favorable to the former.