SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CHANGING DECODING PARAMETERS IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A communication system includes an iterative multi-stage decoder that may be dynamically configured to achieve a particular bit-error-rate. In one embodiment, a circuit comprises a first decoder block and a second decoder block to decode data received over a communication channel. A control circuit may change a number of iterations performed by the decoder blocks to decode received data based on a specified bit error rate and a detected signal-to-noise ratio of said received data. The number of computational units used in the decoders may be changed dynamically to achieve desired system performance. In one embodiment, resources are allocated based on a system initiating the connection. Programmable circuits are used in some embodiments to reconfigure the multi-stage decoder.