Characterization and Efficient Search of Non-Elementary Trapping Sets of LDPC Codes with Applications to Stopping Sets

In this paper, we propose a characterization for non-elementary trapping sets (NETSs) of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. The characterization is based on viewing a NETS as a hierarchy of embedded graphs starting from an ETS. The characterization corresponds to an efficient search algorithm that under certain conditions is exhaustive. As an application of the proposed characterization/search, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the stopping distance $s_{min}$ of LDPC codes. We examine a large number of regular and irregular LDPC codes, and demonstrate the efficiency and versatility of our technique in finding lower and upper bounds on, and in many cases the exact value of, $s_{min}$. Finding $s_{min}$, or establishing search-based lower or upper bounds, for many of the examined codes are out of the reach of any existing algorithm

The Trapping Redundancy of Linear Block Codes

We generalize the notion of the stopping redundancy in order to study the smallest size of a trapping set in Tanner graphs of linear block codes. In this context, we introduce the notion of the trapping redundancy of a code, which quantifies the relationship between the number of redundant rows in any parity-check matrix of a given code and the size of its smallest trapping set. Trapping sets with certain parameter sizes are known to cause error-floors in the performance curves of iterative belief propagation decoders, and it is therefore important to identify decoding matrices that avoid such sets. Bounds on the trapping redundancy are obtained using probabilistic and constructive methods, and the analysis covers both general and elementary trapping sets. Numerical values for these bounds are computed for the [2640,1320] Margulis code and the class of projective geometry codes, and compared with some new code-specific trapping set size estimates.Comment: 12 pages, 4 tables, 1 figure, accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor