Minimum Pseudoweight Analysis of 3-Dimensional Turbo Codes

In this work, we consider pseudocodewords of (relaxed) linear programming (LP) decoding of 3-dimensional turbo codes (3D-TCs). We present a relaxed LP decoder for 3D-TCs, adapting the relaxed LP decoder for conventional turbo codes proposed by Feldman in his thesis. We show that the 3D-TC polytope is proper and $C$-symmetric, and make a connection to finite graph covers of the 3D-TC factor graph. This connection is used to show that the support set of any pseudocodeword is a stopping set of iterative decoding of 3D-TCs using maximum a posteriori constituent decoders on the binary erasure channel. Furthermore, we compute ensemble-average pseudoweight enumerators of 3D-TCs and perform a finite-length minimum pseudoweight analysis for small cover degrees. Also, an explicit description of the fundamental cone of the 3D-TC polytope is given. Finally, we present an extensive numerical study of small-to-medium block length 3D-TCs, which shows that 1) typically (i.e., in most cases) when the minimum distance $d_{\rm min}$ and/or the stopping distance $h_{\rm min}$ is high, the minimum pseudoweight (on the additive white Gaussian noise channel) is strictly smaller than both the $d_{\rm min}$ and the $h_{\rm min}$, and 2) the minimum pseudoweight grows with the block length, at least for small-to-medium block lengths.Comment: To appear in IEEE Transactions on Communication

Iterative Decoding and Turbo Equalization: The Z-Crease Phenomenon

Iterative probabilistic inference, popularly dubbed the soft-iterative paradigm, has found great use in a wide range of communication applications, including turbo decoding and turbo equalization. The classic approach of analyzing the iterative approach inevitably use the statistical and information-theoretical tools that bear ensemble-average flavors. This paper consider the per-block error rate performance, and analyzes it using nonlinear dynamical theory. By modeling the iterative processor as a nonlinear dynamical system, we report a universal "Z-crease phenomenon:" the zig-zag or up-and-down fluctuation -- rather than the monotonic decrease -- of the per-block errors, as the number of iteration increases. Using the turbo decoder as an example, we also report several interesting motion phenomenons which were not previously reported, and which appear to correspond well with the notion of "pseudo codewords" and "stopping/trapping sets." We further propose a heuristic stopping criterion to control Z-crease and identify the best iteration. Our stopping criterion is most useful for controlling the worst-case per-block errors, and helps to significantly reduce the average-iteration numbers.Comment: 6 page

Stopping Set Distributions of Some Linear Codes

Stopping sets and stopping set distribution of an low-density parity-check code are used to determine the performance of this code under iterative decoding over a binary erasure channel (BEC). Let $C$ be a binary $[n,k]$ linear code with parity-check matrix $H$, where the rows of $H$ may be dependent. A stopping set $S$ of $C$ with parity-check matrix $H$ is a subset of column indices of $H$ such that the restriction of $H$ to $S$ does not contain a row of weight one. The stopping set distribution $\{T_i(H)\}_{i=0}^n$ enumerates the number of stopping sets with size $i$ of $C$ with parity-check matrix $H$. Note that stopping sets and stopping set distribution are related to the parity-check matrix $H$ of $C$. Let $H^{*}$ be the parity-check matrix of $C$ which is formed by all the non-zero codewords of its dual code $C^{\perp}$. A parity-check matrix $H$ is called BEC-optimal if $T_i(H)=T_i(H^*), i=0,1,..., n$ and $H$ has the smallest number of rows. On the BEC, iterative decoder of $C$ with BEC-optimal parity-check matrix is an optimal decoder with much lower decoding complexity than the exhaustive decoder. In this paper, we study stopping sets, stopping set distributions and BEC-optimal parity-check matrices of binary linear codes. Using finite geometry in combinatorics, we obtain BEC-optimal parity-check matrices and then determine the stopping set distributions for the Simplex codes, the Hamming codes, the first order Reed-Muller codes and the extended Hamming codes.Comment: 33 pages, submitted to IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, Feb. 201

Analysis and Design of Tuned Turbo Codes

It has been widely observed that there exists a fundamental trade-off between the minimum (Hamming) distance properties and the iterative decoding convergence behavior of turbo-like codes. While capacity achieving code ensembles typically are asymptotically bad in the sense that their minimum distance does not grow linearly with block length, and they therefore exhibit an error floor at moderate-to-high signal to noise ratios, asymptotically good codes usually converge further away from channel capacity. In this paper, we introduce the concept of tuned turbo codes, a family of asymptotically good hybrid concatenated code ensembles, where asymptotic minimum distance growth rates, convergence thresholds, and code rates can be traded-off using two tuning parameters, {\lambda} and {\mu}. By decreasing {\lambda}, the asymptotic minimum distance growth rate is reduced in exchange for improved iterative decoding convergence behavior, while increasing {\lambda} raises the asymptotic minimum distance growth rate at the expense of worse convergence behavior, and thus the code performance can be tuned to fit the desired application. By decreasing {\mu}, a similar tuning behavior can be achieved for higher rate code ensembles.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Approaching Capacity at High-Rates with Iterative Hard-Decision Decoding

A variety of low-density parity-check (LDPC) ensembles have now been observed to approach capacity with message-passing decoding. However, all of them use soft (i.e., non-binary) messages and a posteriori probability (APP) decoding of their component codes. In this paper, we show that one can approach capacity at high rates using iterative hard-decision decoding (HDD) of generalized product codes. Specifically, a class of spatially-coupled GLDPC codes with BCH component codes is considered, and it is observed that, in the high-rate regime, they can approach capacity under the proposed iterative HDD. These codes can be seen as generalized product codes and are closely related to braided block codes. An iterative HDD algorithm is proposed that enables one to analyze the performance of these codes via density evolution (DE).Comment: 22 pages, this version accepted to the IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Density Evolution for Asymmetric Memoryless Channels

Density evolution is one of the most powerful analytical tools for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and graph codes with message passing decoding algorithms. With channel symmetry as one of its fundamental assumptions, density evolution (DE) has been widely and successfully applied to different channels, including binary erasure channels, binary symmetric channels, binary additive white Gaussian noise channels, etc. This paper generalizes density evolution for non-symmetric memoryless channels, which in turn broadens the applications to general memoryless channels, e.g. z-channels, composite white Gaussian noise channels, etc. The central theorem underpinning this generalization is the convergence to perfect projection for any fixed size supporting tree. A new iterative formula of the same complexity is then presented and the necessary theorems for the performance concentration theorems are developed. Several properties of the new density evolution method are explored, including stability results for general asymmetric memoryless channels. Simulations, code optimizations, and possible new applications suggested by this new density evolution method are also provided. This result is also used to prove the typicality of linear LDPC codes among the coset code ensemble when the minimum check node degree is sufficiently large. It is shown that the convergence to perfect projection is essential to the belief propagation algorithm even when only symmetric channels are considered. Hence the proof of the convergence to perfect projection serves also as a completion of the theory of classical density evolution for symmetric memoryless channels.Comment: To appear in the IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Pseudocodewords of linear programming decoding of 3-dimensional turbo codes

In this work, we consider pseudocodewords of (relaxed) linear programming (LP) decoding of 3-dimensional turbo codes (3D-TCs), recently introduced by Berrou et al.. Here, we consider binary 3D-TCs while the original work of Berrou et al. considered double-binary codes. We present a relaxed LP decoder for 3D-TCs, which is an adaptation of the relaxed LP decoder for conventional turbo codes proposed by Feldman in his thesis. The vertices of this relaxed polytope are the pseudocodewords. We show that the support set of any pseudocodeword is a stopping set of iterative decoding of 3D-TCs using maximum a posteriori constituent decoders on the binary erasure channel. Furthermore, we present a numerical study of small block length 3D-TCs, which shows that typically the minimum pseudoweight (on the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel) is smaller than both the minimum distance and the stopping distance. In particular, we performed an exhaustive search over all interleaver pairs in the 3D-TC (with input block length K = 128) based on quadratic permutation polynomials over integer rings with a quadratic inverse. The search shows that the best minimum AWGN pseudoweight is strictly smaller than the best minimum/stopping distance