Linear tail-biting trellises: Characteristic generators and the BCJR-construction

We investigate the constructions of tail-biting trellises for linear block codes introduced by Koetter/Vardy (2003) and Nori/Shankar (2006). For a given code we will define the sets of characteristic generators more generally than by Koetter/Vardy and we will investigate how the choice of characteristic generators affects the set of resulting product trellises, called KV-trellises. Furthermore, we will show that each KV-trellis is a BCJR-trellis, defined in a slightly stronger sense than by Nori/Shankar, and that the latter are always non-mergeable. Finally, we will address a duality conjecture of Koetter/Vardy by making use of a dualization technique of BCJR-trellises and prove the conjecture for minimal trellises.Comment: 28 page

Local Irreducibility of Tail-Biting Trellises

This paper investigates tail-biting trellis realizations for linear block codes. Intrinsic trellis properties are used to characterize irreducibility on given intervals of the time axis. It proves beneficial to always consider the trellis and its dual simultaneously. A major role is played by trellis properties that amount to observability and controllability for fragments of the trellis of various lengths. For fragments of length less than the minimum span length of the code it is shown that fragment observability and fragment controllability are equivalent to irreducibility. For reducible trellises, a constructive reduction procedure is presented. The considerations also lead to a characterization for when the dual of a trellis allows a product factorization into elementary ("atomic") trellises

Algebraic Construction of Tail-Biting Trellises for Linear Block Codes

In this paper, we present an algebraic construction of tail-biting trellises. The proposed method is based on the state space expressions, i.e., the state space is the image of the set of information sequences under the associated state matrix. Then combining with the homomorphism theorem, an algebraic trellis construction is obtained. We show that a tail-biting trellis constructed using the proposed method is isomorphic to the associated Koetter-Vardy (KV) trellis and tail-biting Bahl-Cocke-Jelinek-Raviv (BCJR) trellis. We also evaluate the complexity of the obtained tail-biting trellises. On the other hand, a matrix consisting of linearly independent rows of the characteristic matrix is regarded as a generalization of minimal-span generator matrices. Then we show that a KV trellis is constructed based on an extended minimal-span generator matrix. It is shown that this construction is a natural extension of the method proposed by McEliece (1996).Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Codes on Graphs: Observability, Controllability and Local Reducibility

This paper investigates properties of realizations of linear or group codes on general graphs that lead to local reducibility. Trimness and properness are dual properties of constraint codes. A linear or group realization with a constraint code that is not both trim and proper is locally reducible. A linear or group realization on a finite cycle-free graph is minimal if and only if every local constraint code is trim and proper. A realization is called observable if there is a one-to-one correspondence between codewords and configurations, and controllable if it has independent constraints. A linear or group realization is observable if and only if its dual is controllable. A simple counting test for controllability is given. An unobservable or uncontrollable realization is locally reducible. Parity-check realizations are controllable if and only if they have independent parity checks. In an uncontrollable tail-biting trellis realization, the behavior partitions into disconnected subbehaviors, but this property does not hold for non-trellis realizations. On a general graph, the support of an unobservable configuration is a generalized cycle.Comment: 16 pages. To appear in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Observability, Controllability and Local Reducibility of Linear Codes on Graphs

This paper is concerned with the local reducibility properties of linear realizations of codes on finite graphs. Trimness and properness are dual properties of constraint codes. A linear realization is locally reducible if any constraint code is not both trim and proper. On a finite cycle-free graph, a linear realization is minimal if and only if every constraint code is both trim and proper. A linear realization is called observable if it is one-to-one, and controllable if all constraints are independent. Observability and controllability are dual properties. An unobservable or uncontrollable realization is locally reducible. A parity-check realization is uncontrollable if and only if it has redundant parity checks. A tail-biting trellis realization is uncontrollable if and only if its trajectories partition into disconnected subrealizations. General graphical realizations do not share this property.Comment: 5 pages; submitted to the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theor

Codes on Graphs: Observability, Controllability, and Local Reducibility

Original manuscript: August 30, 2012This paper investigates properties of realizations of linear or group codes on general graphs that lead to local reducibility. Trimness and properness are dual properties of constraint codes. A linear or group realization with a constraint code that is not both trim and proper is locally reducible. A linear or group realization on a finite cycle-free graph is minimal if and only if every local constraint code is trim and proper. A realization is called observable if there is a one-to-one correspondence between codewords and configurations, and controllable if it has independent constraints. A linear or group realization is observable if and only if its dual is controllable. A simple counting test for controllability is given. An unobservable or uncontrollable realization is locally reducible. Parity-check realizations are controllable if and only if they have independent parity checks. In an uncontrollable tail-biting trellis realization, the behavior partitions into disconnected sub-behaviors, but this property does not hold for nontrellis realizations. On a general graph, the support of an unobservable configuration is a generalized cycle

Codes on Graphs: Duality and MacWilliams Identities

A conceptual framework involving partition functions of normal factor graphs is introduced, paralleling a similar recent development by Al-Bashabsheh and Mao. The partition functions of dual normal factor graphs are shown to be a Fourier transform pair, whether or not the graphs have cycles. The original normal graph duality theorem follows as a corollary. Within this framework, MacWilliams identities are found for various local and global weight generating functions of general group or linear codes on graphs; this generalizes and provides a concise proof of the MacWilliams identity for linear time-invariant convolutional codes that was recently found by Gluesing-Luerssen and Schneider. Further MacWilliams identities are developed for terminated convolutional codes, particularly for tail-biting codes, similar to those studied recently by Bocharova, Hug, Johannesson, and Kudryashov