Error Detection Based on Generalized Successive Cancellation List Decoding for Polar Codes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a modified SCL decoding method for polar codes that uses a mixing factor to implement Forney's generalized decoding rule, improving reliability by discarding unreliable decisions.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel modification to SCL decoding using a mixing factor, enabling implementation of Forney's generalized decoding rule for polar codes.

Findings

Enhanced decoding performance demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulations.

Efficient unreliable decision discarding method for short polar codes.

Theoretical analysis of the generalized SCL decoding's effectiveness.

Abstract

Successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding has been widely adopted for polar codes, which allows near maximum likelihood performance with sufficiently large list size. In this work, we show that, if the list size is $2^\gamma$, where $\gamma$ is the fundamental quantity called mixing factor, then a modification to SCL decoding can implement Forney's generalized decoding rule. Hence, it provides an efficient means to discard unreliable decisions. The performance achieved by short polar codes under the proposed generalized SCL decoding is analyzed via Monte Carlo simulations.