1. A method for computing Min star calculations, Min*(A,B), in a Map decoder the method comprising: determining Min_&bgr;&equals;minimum of the operands comparing a first input (A) and the second input (B), wherein A comprises an &bgr; metric, a priori values and a transition metric for a first previous state and B comprises an &bgr; metric, a priori values and a transition metric for a second previous state; outputting Min_&bgr; from the Min* operation wherein Min_&bgr; comprises the Minimum of A and B, a first portion of the output of a Min* operation; computing In_&bgr;&equals;−log(1&plus;e −&verbar;A−B&verbar; ) as a second portion of a Min* operation; and outputting In_&bgr; from the Min* operation;