No Arabic abstract
SC-LDPC codes with sub-block locality can be decoded locally at the level of sub-blocks that are much smaller than the full code block, thus providing fast access to the coded information. The same code can also be decoded globally using the entire code block, for increased data reliability. In this paper, we pursue the analysis and design of such codes from both finite-length and asymptotic lenses. This mixed approach has rarely been applied in designing SC codes, but it is beneficial for optimizing code graphs for local and global performance simultaneously. Our proposed framework consists of two steps: 1) designing the local code for both threshold and cycle counts, and 2) designing the coupling of local codes for best cycle count in the global design.
A new type of spatially coupled low-density parity-check (SC-LDPC) codes motivated by practical storage applications is presented. SC-LDPCL codes (suffix L stands for locality) can be decoded locally at the level of sub-blocks that are much smaller than the full code block, thus offering flexible access to the coded information alongside the strong reliability of the global full-block decoding. Toward that, we propose constructions of SC-LDPCL codes that allow controlling the trade-off between local and global correction performance. In addition to local and global decoding, the paper develops a density-evolution analysis for a decoding mode we call semi-global decoding, in which the decoder has access to the requested sub-block plus a prescribed number of sub-blocks around it. SC-LDPCL codes are also studied under a channel model with variability across sub-blocks, for which decoding-performance lower bounds are derived.
Generalized low-density parity-check (GLDPC) codes are a class of LDPC codes in which the standard single parity check (SPC) constraints are replaced by constraints defined by a linear block code. These stronger constraints typically result in improved error floor performance, due to better minimum distance and trapping set properties, at a cost of some increased decoding complexity. In this paper, we study spatially coupled generalized low-density parity-check (SC-GLDPC) codes and present a comprehensive analysis of these codes, including: (1) an iterative decoding threshold analysis of SC-GLDPC code ensembles demonstrating capacity approaching thresholds via the threshold saturation effect; (2) an asymptotic analysis of the minimum distance and free distance properties of SC-GLDPC code ensembles, demonstrating that the ensembles are asymptotically good; and (3) an analysis of the finite-length scaling behavior of both GLDPC block codes and SC-GLDPC codes based on a peeling decoder (PD) operating on a binary erasure channel (BEC). Results are compared to GLDPC block codes, and the advantages and disadvantages of SC-GLDPC codes are discussed.
Spatially-coupled (SC) LDPC codes have recently emerged as an excellent choice for error correction in modern data storage and communication systems due to their outstanding performance. It has long been known that irregular graph codes offer performance advantage over their regular counterparts. In this paper, we present a novel combinatorial framework for designing finite-length irregular SC LDPC codes. Our irregular SC codes have the desirable properties of regular SC codes thanks to their structure while offering significant performance benefits that come with the node degree irregularity. Coding constructions proposed in this work contribute to the existing portfolio of finite-length graph code designs.
We study spatially coupled LDPC codes that allow access to sub-blocks much smaller than the full code block. Sub-block access is realized by a semi-global decoder that decodes a chosen target sub-block by only accessing the target, plus a prescribed number of helper sub-blocks adjacent in the code chain. This paper develops a theoretical methodology for analyzing the semi-global decoding performance of spatially coupled LDPC codes constructed from protographs. The main result shows that semi-global decoding thresholds can be derived from certain thresholds we define for the single-sub-block graph. These characterizing thresholds are also used for deriving lower bounds on the decoders performance over channels with variability across sub-blocks, which are motivated by applications in data-storage.
Spatially-coupled (SC) codes are a family of graph-based codes that have attracted significant attention thanks to their capacity approaching performance and low decoding latency. An SC code is constructed by partitioning an underlying block code into a number of components and coupling their copies together. In this paper, we first introduce a general approach for the enumeration of detrimental combinatorial objects in the graph of finite-length SC codes. Our approach is general in the sense that it effectively works for SC codes with various column weights and memories. Next, we present a two-stage framework for the construction of high-performance binary SC codes optimized for additive white Gaussian noise channel; we aim at minimizing the number of detrimental combinatorial objects in the error floor regime. In the first stage, we deploy a novel partitioning scheme, called the optimal overlap partitioning, to produce optimal partitioning corresponding to the smallest number of detrimental objects. In the second stage, we apply a new circulant power optimizer to further reduce the number of detrimental objects in the lifted graph. An SC code constructed by our new framework has nearly 5 orders of magnitudes error floor performance improvement compared to the uncoupled setting.