Probabilistic Shaping for Finite Blocklengths: Distribution Matching and Sphere Shaping

In this paper, we provide for the first time a systematic comparison of distribution matching (DM) and sphere shaping (SpSh) algorithms for short blocklength probabilistic amplitude shaping. For asymptotically large blocklengths, constant composition distribution matching (CCDM) is known to generate the target capacity-achieving distribution. As the blocklength decreases, however, the resulting rate loss diminishes the efficiency of CCDM. We claim that for such short blocklengths and over the additive white Gaussian channel (AWGN), the objective of shaping should be reformulated as obtaining the most energy-efficient signal space for a given rate (rather than matching distributions). In light of this interpretation, multiset-partition DM (MPDM), enumerative sphere shaping (ESS) and shell mapping (SM), are reviewed as energy-efficient shaping techniques. Numerical results show that MPDM and SpSh have smaller rate losses than CCDM. SpSh--whose sole objective is to maximize the energy efficiency--is shown to have the minimum rate loss amongst all. We provide simulation results of the end-to-end decoding performance showing that up to 1 dB improvement in power efficiency over uniform signaling can be obtained with MPDM and SpSh at blocklengths around 200. Finally, we present a discussion on the complexity of these algorithms from the perspective of latency, storage and computations.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

A coding approach for detection of tampering in write-once optical disks

We present coding methods for protecting against tampering of write-once optical disks, which turns them into a secure digital medium for applications where critical information must be stored in a way that prevents or allows detection of an attempt at falsification. Our method involves adding a small amount of redundancy to a modulated sector of data. This extra redundancy is not used for normal operation, but can be used for determining, say, as a testimony in court, that a disk has not been tampered with

Interleaving schemes for multidimensional cluster errors

We present two-dimensional and three-dimensional interleaving techniques for correcting two- and three-dimensional bursts (or clusters) of errors, where a cluster of errors is characterized by its area or volume. Correction of multidimensional error clusters is required in holographic storage, an emerging application of considerable importance. Our main contribution is the construction of efficient two-dimensional and three-dimensional interleaving schemes. The proposed schemes are based on t-interleaved arrays of integers, defined by the property that every connected component of area or volume t consists of distinct integers. In the two-dimensional case, our constructions are optimal: they have the lowest possible interleaving degree. That is, the resulting t-interleaved arrays contain the smallest possible number of distinct integers, hence minimizing the number of codewords required in an interleaving scheme. In general, we observe that the interleaving problem can be interpreted as a graph-coloring problem, and introduce the useful special class of lattice interleavers. We employ a result of Minkowski, dating back to 1904, to establish both upper and lower bounds on the interleaving degree of lattice interleavers in three dimensions. For the case t≡0 mod 6, the upper and lower bounds coincide, and the Minkowski lattice directly yields an optimal lattice interleaver. For t≠0 mod 6, we construct efficient lattice interleavers using approximations of the Minkowski lattice

Data compression techniques applied to high resolution high frame rate video technology

An investigation is presented of video data compression applied to microgravity space experiments using High Resolution High Frame Rate Video Technology (HHVT). An extensive survey of methods of video data compression, described in the open literature, was conducted. The survey examines compression methods employing digital computing. The results of the survey are presented. They include a description of each method and assessment of image degradation and video data parameters. An assessment is made of present and near term future technology for implementation of video data compression in high speed imaging system. Results of the assessment are discussed and summarized. The results of a study of a baseline HHVT video system, and approaches for implementation of video data compression, are presented. Case studies of three microgravity experiments are presented and specific compression techniques and implementations are recommended