A decoder for determining an estimate of a vector of information symbols carried by optical signals propagating along a multi-core fiber in an optical fiber transmission channel according to two or more cores is provided. The decoder is implemented in an optical receiver. The optical signals are encoded using a space-time coding scheme and/or scrambled by at least one scrambling device arranged in the optical fiber transmission channel according to a predefined scrambling function. The decoder comprises a processing unit configured to adaptively: determine, in response to a temporal condition, one or more channel quality indicators from the optical signals; determine a decoding algorithm according to a target quality of service metric and on the one or more channel quality indicators; update the predefined scrambling function and/or the space-time coding scheme depending on the target quality of service metric and on the one or more channel quality indicators. The decoder further comprises a symbol estimation unit configured to determine an estimate of a vector of information symbols by applying the decoding algorithm to the optical signals.