Retransmission softbit decoding

A receiver, comprising:

• a wireless interface configured to receive a plurality of packets over a network, the plurality of packets including an original packet and one or more retransmissions of the original packet, the original packet including a plurality of bits;
• a processing device configured to:
• accumulate the plurality of received packets for each bit of the plurality of bits into corresponding accumulated softbits of an accumulated softbit packet;
• determine a bit decision for each bit of the plurality of bits based on the accumulated softbit packet and a total number of transmissions of the original packet;
• estimate a bit error rate (BER) of the network based on the processing device being configured to compare the decision bit for each bit with the corresponding bit in each of the plurality of received packets to identify possible bit errors, accumulate the possible bit errors to generate a total number of possible bit errors, and divide the total number of possible bit errors by a total number of the plurality of bits in the plurality of received packets to estimate the BER;
• compute bit reliability information for each bit of the plurality of bits based on the accumulated softbit packet, the total number of transmissions, and the BER, the reliability information for each bit indicating a confidence level that the bit decision for the bit is equal to a corresponding bit in the original packet;
• and
• transmit the bit decision and the bit reliability information for each bit of the plurality of bits to aid a softbit decoder to recover the original packet.

A communication device, comprising:

• one or more antennas configured to receive a plurality of audio packets over a network, the plurality of audio packets including an original audio packet and one or more retransmissions of the original audio packet, the original audio packet including a plurality of bits;
• one or more speakers;
• and
• a processing device connected to the one or more antennas, the processing device configured to:
• accumulate the plurality of received audio packets for each bit of the plurality of bits into corresponding accumulated softbits of an accumulated softbit packet;
• determine a bit decision for each bit of the plurality of bits based on the accumulated softbit packet and a total number of transmissions of the original audio packet;
• estimate a bit error rate (BER) of the network based on the processing device being configured to compare the decision bit for each bit with the corresponding bit in each of the plurality of received audio packets to identify possible bit errors, accumulate the possible bit errors to generate a total number of possible bit errors, and divide the total number of possible bit errors by a total number of the plurality of bits in the plurality of received audio packets to estimate the BER;
• compute bit reliability information for each bit of the plurality of bits based on the accumulated softbit packet, the total number of transmissions, and the BER, the reliability information for each bit indicating a confidence level that the bit decision for the bit is equal to a corresponding bit in the original audio packet;
• perform softbit decoding aided by the bit decision and the bit reliability information for each bit of the plurality of bits to recover the original audio packet;
• and
• providing the recovered original audio packet to the one or more speakers for playback.