Connecting Spatially Coupled LDPC Code Chains

TL;DR

This paper proposes connecting spatially coupled LDPC code chains to enhance decoding performance, improve thresholds, reduce complexity, and achieve good minimum distance properties, advancing coding theory and practical error correction.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of connecting SC-LDPCC chains, resulting in better thresholds, lower complexity, and asymptotic goodness, which was not previously demonstrated.

Findings

Connected chains improve iterative decoding performance.

Proposed ensembles have better thresholds than individual chains.

Construction is asymptotically good in minimum distance.

Abstract

Codes constructed from connected spatially coupled low-density parity-check code (SC-LDPCC) chains are proposed and analyzed. It is demonstrated that connecting coupled chains results in improved iterative decoding performance. The constructed protograph ensembles have better iterative decoding thresholds compared to an individual SC-LDPCC chain and require less computational complexity per bit when operating in the near-threshold region. In addition, it is shown that the proposed constructions are asymptotically good in terms of minimum distance.