Trellis decoding complexity of linear block codes

In this partially tutorial paper, we examine minimal trellis representations of linear block codes and analyze several measures of trellis complexity: maximum state and edge dimensions, total span length, and total vertices, edges and mergers. We obtain bounds on these complexities as extensions of well-known dimension/length profile (DLP) bounds. Codes meeting these bounds minimize all the complexity measures simultaneously; conversely, a code attaining the bound for total span length, vertices, or edges, must likewise attain it for all the others. We define a notion of “uniform” optimality that embraces different domains of optimization, such as different permutations of a code or different codes with the same parameters, and we give examples of uniformly optimal codes and permutations. We also give some conditions that identify certain cases when no code or permutation can meet the bounds. In addition to DLP-based bounds, we derive new inequalities relating one complexity measure to another, which can be used in conjunction with known bounds on one measure to imply bounds on the others. As an application, we infer new bounds on maximum state and edge complexity and on total vertices and edges from bounds on span lengths

Results on Binary Linear Codes With Minimum Distance 8 and 10

All codes with minimum distance 8 and codimension up to 14 and all codes with minimum distance 10 and codimension up to 18 are classified. Nonexistence of codes with parameters [33,18,8] and [33,14,10] is proved. This leads to 8 new exact bounds for binary linear codes. Primarily two algorithms considering the dual codes are used, namely extension of dual codes with a proper coordinate, and a fast algorithm for finding a maximum clique in a graph, which is modified to find a maximum set of vectors with the right dependency structure.Comment: Submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, May 2010 To be presented at the ACCT 201

Lengthening and Extending Binary Private Information Retrieval Codes

It was recently shown by Fazeli et al. that the storage overhead of a traditional $t$-server private information retrieval (PIR) protocol can be significantly reduced using the concept of a $t$-server PIR code. In this work, we show that a family of $t$-server PIR codes (with increasing dimensions and blocklengths) can be constructed from an existing $t$-server PIR code through lengthening by a single information symbol and code extension by at most $\bigl\lceil t/2\bigr\rceil$ code symbols. Furthermore, by extending a code construction notion from Steiner systems by Fazeli et al., we obtain a specific family of $t$-server PIR codes. Based on a code construction technique that lengthens and extends a $t$-server PIR code simultaneously, a basic algorithm to find good (i.e., small blocklength) $t$-server PIR codes is proposed. For the special case of $t=5$, we find provably optimal PIR codes for code dimensions $k\leq 6$, while for all $7\leq k\leq 32$ we find codes of smaller blocklength than the best known codes from the literature. Furthermore, in the case of $t = 8$, we also find better codes for $k = 5, 6, 11, 12$. Numerical results show that most of the best found $5$-server PIR codes can be constructed from the proposed family of codes connected to Steiner systems.Comment: The shorter version of this paper will appear in the proceedings of 2018 International Zurich Seminar on Information and Communicatio

Rigidity of spherical codes

A packing of spherical caps on the surface of a sphere (that is, a spherical code) is called rigid or jammed if it is isolated within the space of packings. In other words, aside from applying a global isometry, the packing cannot be deformed. In this paper, we systematically study the rigidity of spherical codes, particularly kissing configurations. One surprise is that the kissing configuration of the Coxeter-Todd lattice is not jammed, despite being locally jammed (each individual cap is held in place if its neighbors are fixed); in this respect, the Coxeter-Todd lattice is analogous to the face-centered cubic lattice in three dimensions. By contrast, we find that many other packings have jammed kissing configurations, including the Barnes-Wall lattice and all of the best kissing configurations known in four through twelve dimensions. Jamming seems to become much less common for large kissing configurations in higher dimensions, and in particular it fails for the best kissing configurations known in 25 through 31 dimensions. Motivated by this phenomenon, we find new kissing configurations in these dimensions, which improve on the records set in 1982 by the laminated lattices.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figure

On a Class of Optimal Nonbinary Linear Unequal-Error-Protection Codes for Two Sets of Messages

Several authors have addressed the problem of designing good linear unequal error protection (LUEP) codes. However, very little is known about good nonbinary LUEP codes. We present a class of optimal nonbinary LUEP codes for two different sets of messages. By combining t-error-correcting ReedSolomon (RS) codes and shortened nonbinary Hamming codes, we obtain nonbinary LUEP codes that protect one set of messages against any t or fewer symbol errors and the remaining set of messages against any single symbol error. For t ≥ 2, we show that these codes are optimal in the sense of achieving the Hamming lower bound on the number of redundant symbols of a nonbinary LUEP code with the same parameters

A Study on the Impact of Locality in the Decoding of Binary Cyclic Codes

In this paper, we study the impact of locality on the decoding of binary cyclic codes under two approaches, namely ordered statistics decoding (OSD) and trellis decoding. Given a binary cyclic code having locality or availability, we suitably modify the OSD to obtain gains in terms of the Signal-To-Noise ratio, for a given reliability and essentially the same level of decoder complexity. With regard to trellis decoding, we show that careful introduction of locality results in the creation of cyclic subcodes having lower maximum state complexity. We also present a simple upper-bounding technique on the state complexity profile, based on the zeros of the code. Finally, it is shown how the decoding speed can be significantly increased in the presence of locality, in the moderate-to-high SNR regime, by making use of a quick-look decoder that often returns the ML codeword.Comment: Extended version of a paper submitted to ISIT 201

New binary and ternary LCD codes

LCD codes are linear codes with important cryptographic applications. Recently, a method has been presented to transform any linear code into an LCD code with the same parameters when it is supported on a finite field with cardinality larger than 3. Hence, the study of LCD codes is mainly open for binary and ternary fields. Subfield-subcodes of $J$-affine variety codes are a generalization of BCH codes which have been successfully used for constructing good quantum codes. We describe binary and ternary LCD codes constructed as subfield-subcodes of $J$-affine variety codes and provide some new and good LCD codes coming from this construction