Iterative decoding beyond belief propagation for low-density parity-check codes (2012)

The recent renaissance of one particular class of error-correcting codes called low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes has revolutionized the area of communications leading to the so-called field of modern coding theory. At the heart of this theory lies the fact that LDPC codes can be efficiently decoded by an iterative inference algorithm known as belief propagation (BP) which operates on a graphical model of a code. With BP decoding, LDPC codes are able to achieve an exceptionally good error-rate performance as they can asymptotically approach Shannon's capacity. However, LDPC codes under BP decoding suffer from the error floor phenomenon, an abrupt degradation in the error-rate performance of the code in the high signal-to-noise ratio region, which prevents the decoder from achieving very low error-rates. It arises mainly due to the sub-optimality of BP decoding on finite-length loopy graphs. Moreover, the effects of finite precision that stem from hardware realizations of BP decoding can further worsen the error floor phenomenon. Over the past few years, the error floor problem has emerged as one of the most important problems in coding theory with applications now requiring very low error rates and faster processing speeds. Further, addressing the error floor problem while taking finite precision into account in the decoder design has remained a challenge. In this dissertation, we introduce a new paradigm for finite precision iterative decoding of LDPC codes over the binary symmetric channel (BSC). These novel decoders, referred to as finite alphabet iterative decoders (FAIDs), are capable of surpassing the BP in the error floor region at a much lower complexity and memory usage than BP without any compromise in decoding latency. The messages propagated by FAIDs are not quantized probabilities or log-likelihoods, and the variable node update functions do not mimic the BP decoder. Rather, the update functions are simple maps designed to ensure a higher guaranteed error correction capability which improves the error floor performance. We provide a methodology for the design of FAIDs on column-weight-three codes. Using this methodology, we design 3-bit precision FAIDs that can surpass the BP (floating-point) in the error floor region on several column-weight-three codes of practical interest. While the proposed FAIDs are able to outperform the BP decoder with low precision, the analysis of FAIDs still proves to be a difficult issue. Furthermore, their achievable guaranteed error correction capability is still far from what is achievable by the optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding. In order to address these two issues, we propose another novel class of decoders called decimation-enhanced FAIDs for LDPC codes. For this class of decoders, the technique of decimation is incorporated into the variable node update function of FAIDs. Decimation, which involves fixing certain bits of the code to a particular value during decoding, can significantly reduce the number of iterations required to correct a fixed number of errors while maintaining the good performance of a FAID, thereby making such decoders more amenable to analysis. We illustrate this for 3-bit precision FAIDs on column-weight-three codes and provide insights into the analysis of such decoders. We also show how decimation can be used adaptively to further enhance the guaranteed error correction capability of FAIDs that are already good on a given code. The new adaptive decimation scheme proposed has marginally added complexity but can significantly increase the slope of the error floor in the error-rate performance of a particular FAID. On certain high-rate column-weight-three codes of practical interest, we show that adaptive decimation-enhanced FAIDs can achieve a guaranteed error-correction capability that is close to the theoretical limit achieved by ML decoding.