Packet decoding method and apparatus for digital broadcast system

An apparatus for decoding packets in a digital broadcast system, comprising:

• a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) measurer for measuring SNRs of individual packets within a slot;
• a decoding controller for determining a decoding order of the packets according to the SNRs;
• a decoder for decoding the packets in the decoding order,
• wherein the decoding controller determines a maximum number of decoding iterations of each packet,
• wherein the decoding controller calculates a difference between the maximum number of decoding iterations and a number of actually iterated decodings to each packet as a saved number of decoding iterations, and reallocates the saved number of decoding iterations to a packet having the least SNR among packets within the slot remaining to be decoded, and performs decoding iterations for a packet from the packets,
• wherein the decoding controller performs, when a number of the decoding iterations of the packet from the packets reaches the maximum number of decoding iterations, decoding a next packet in the decoding order, and
• wherein the decoding controller determines whether an early stop occurs while decoding each packet and, when an early stop occurs, reallocates a saved number of decoding iterations to packets remaining to be decoded.

A method of decoding packets in a digital broadcast system, the method comprising:

• measuring Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNRs) of individual packets within a slot;
• determining an order in which the packets within the slot will be decoded, based on the SNRs of the packets,
• for each packet to be decoded, assigning a maximum number of decoding operations;
• decoding the packets in the determined order based on the assigned maximum number of decoding operations;
• when a packet is decoded in less than the assigned maximum number of decoding operations, allocating remaining decoding operations to a packet having the least SNR among packets within the slot remaining to be decoded;
• and
• decoding, when the assigned maximum number of decoding operations have been reached, a next packet in the determined order,
• wherein the decoding of the packets comprises:
• determining whether an early stop occurs while decoding each packet;
• and
• when an early stop occurs, reallocating a saved number of decoding iterations to packets remaining to be decoded.