1. A method of managing a communication channel, comprising: receiving a plurality of symbols representing information encoded using a predetermined coding scheme; receiving a plurality of symbol reliability values corresponding to the symbols; associating each of the symbols with one of a plurality of predetermined classes; determining a plurality of class reliability values based on the symbol reliability values; providing a plurality of predetermined weighting factors corresponding to the classes; weighting each of the class reliability values with a corresponding one of the predetermined weighting factors to generate a plurality of weighted class reliability values; and taking a predetermined action for managing the communication channel based on at least one of the weighted class reliability values.