3,875 research outputs found
A Scalable VLSI Architecture for Soft-Input Soft-Output Depth-First Sphere Decoding
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless transmission imposes huge
challenges on the design of efficient hardware architectures for iterative
receivers. A major challenge is soft-input soft-output (SISO) MIMO demapping,
often approached by sphere decoding (SD). In this paper, we introduce the - to
our best knowledge - first VLSI architecture for SISO SD applying a single
tree-search approach. Compared with a soft-output-only base architecture
similar to the one proposed by Studer et al. in IEEE J-SAC 2008, the
architectural modifications for soft input still allow a one-node-per-cycle
execution. For a 4x4 16-QAM system, the area increases by 57% and the operating
frequency degrades by 34% only.Comment: Accepted for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II Express
Briefs, May 2010. This draft from April 2010 will not be updated any more.
Please refer to IEEE Xplore for the final version. *) The final publication
will appear with the modified title "A Scalable VLSI Architecture for
Soft-Input Soft-Output Single Tree-Search Sphere Decoding
Fault Secure Encoder and Decoder for NanoMemory Applications
Memory cells have been protected from soft errors for more than a decade; due to the increase in soft error rate in logic circuits, the encoder and decoder circuitry around the memory blocks have become susceptible to soft errors as well and must also be protected. We introduce a new approach to design fault-secure encoder and decoder circuitry for memory designs. The key novel contribution of this paper is identifying and defining a new class of error-correcting codes whose redundancy makes the design of fault-secure detectors (FSD) particularly simple. We further quantify the importance of protecting encoder and decoder circuitry against transient errors, illustrating a scenario where the system failure rate (FIT) is dominated by the failure rate of the encoder and decoder. We prove that Euclidean geometry low-density parity-check (EG-LDPC) codes have the fault-secure detector capability. Using some of the smaller EG-LDPC codes, we can tolerate bit or nanowire defect rates of 10% and fault rates of 10^(-18) upsets/device/cycle, achieving a FIT rate at or below one for the entire memory system and a memory density of 10^(11) bit/cm^2 with nanowire pitch of 10 nm for memory blocks of 10 Mb or larger. Larger EG-LDPC codes can achieve even higher reliability and lower area overhead
- …