On formulas for decoding binary cyclic codes

We adress the problem of the algebraic decoding of any cyclic code up to the true minimum distance. For this, we use the classical formulation of the problem, which is to find the error locator polynomial in terms of the syndroms of the received word. This is usually done with the Berlekamp-Massey algorithm in the case of BCH codes and related codes, but for the general case, there is no generic algorithm to decode cyclic codes. Even in the case of the quadratic residue codes, which are good codes with a very strong algebraic structure, there is no available general decoding algorithm. For this particular case of quadratic residue codes, several authors have worked out, by hand, formulas for the coefficients of the locator polynomial in terms of the syndroms, using the Newton identities. This work has to be done for each particular quadratic residue code, and is more and more difficult as the length is growing. Furthermore, it is error-prone. We propose to automate these computations, using elimination theory and Grbner bases. We prove that, by computing appropriate Grbner bases, one automatically recovers formulas for the coefficients of the locator polynomial, in terms of the syndroms

Worst case QC-MDPC decoder for McEliece cryptosystem

McEliece encryption scheme which enjoys relatively small key sizes as well as a security reduction to hard problems of coding theory. Furthermore, it remains secure against a quantum adversary and is very well suited to low cost implementations on embedded devices. Decoding MDPC codes is achieved with the (iterative) bit flipping algorithm, as for LDPC codes. Variable time decoders might leak some information on the code structure (that is on the sparse parity check equations) and must be avoided. A constant time decoder is easy to emulate, but its running time depends on the worst case rather than on the average case. So far implementations were focused on minimizing the average cost. We show that the tuning of the algorithm is not the same to reduce the maximal number of iterations as for reducing the average cost. This provides some indications on how to engineer the QC-MDPC-McEliece scheme to resist a timing side-channel attack.Comment: 5 pages, conference ISIT 201

Countably Infinite Multilevel Source Polarization for Non-Stationary Erasure Distributions

Polar transforms are central operations in the study of polar codes. This paper examines polar transforms for non-stationary memoryless sources on possibly infinite source alphabets. This is the first attempt of source polarization analysis over infinite alphabets. The source alphabet is defined to be a Polish group, and we handle the Ar{\i}kan-style two-by-two polar transform based on the group. Defining erasure distributions based on the normal subgroup structure, we give recursive formulas of the polar transform for our proposed erasure distributions. As a result, the recursive formulas lead to concrete examples of multilevel source polarization with countably infinite levels when the group is locally cyclic. We derive this result via elementary techniques in lattice theory.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, a short version has been accepted by the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT2019

Codeword-Independent Performance of Nonbinary Linear Codes Under Linear-Programming and Sum-Product Decoding

A coded modulation system is considered in which nonbinary coded symbols are mapped directly to nonbinary modulation signals. It is proved that if the modulator-channel combination satisfies a particular symmetry condition, the codeword error rate performance is independent of the transmitted codeword. It is shown that this result holds for both linear-programming decoders and sum-product decoders. In particular, this provides a natural modulation mapping for nonbinary codes mapped to PSK constellations for transmission over memoryless channels such as AWGN channels or flat fading channels with AWGN.Comment: 5 pages, Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, Toronto, ON, Canada, July 6-11, 200

LEDAkem: a post-quantum key encapsulation mechanism based on QC-LDPC codes

This work presents a new code-based key encapsulation mechanism (KEM) called LEDAkem. It is built on the Niederreiter cryptosystem and relies on quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check codes as secret codes, providing high decoding speeds and compact keypairs. LEDAkem uses ephemeral keys to foil known statistical attacks, and takes advantage of a new decoding algorithm that provides faster decoding than the classical bit-flipping decoder commonly adopted in this kind of systems. The main attacks against LEDAkem are investigated, taking into account quantum speedups. Some instances of LEDAkem are designed to achieve different security levels against classical and quantum computers. Some performance figures obtained through an efficient C99 implementation of LEDAkem are provided.Comment: 21 pages, 3 table

Adaptively correcting quantum errors with entanglement

Contrary to the assumption that most quantum error-correcting codes (QECC) make, it is expected that phase errors are much more likely than bit errors in physical devices. By employing the entanglement-assisted stabilizer formalism, we develop a new kind of error-correcting protocol which can flexibly trade error correction abilities between the two types of errors, such that high error correction performance is achieved both in symmetric and in asymmetric situations. The characteristics of the QECCs can be optimized in an adaptive manner during information transmission. The proposed entanglement-assisted QECCs require only one ebit regardless of the degree of asymmetry at a given moment and can be decoded in polynomial time.Comment: 5 pages, final submission to ISIT 2011, Saint-Petersburg, Russi