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

On sizes of complete arcs in PG(2,q)

New upper bounds on the smallest size t_{2}(2,q) of a complete arc in the projective plane PG(2,q) are obtained for 853 <= q <= 4561 and q\in T1\cup T2 where T1={173,181,193,229,243,257,271,277,293,343,373,409,443,449,457, 461,463,467,479,487,491,499,529,563,569,571,577,587,593,599,601,607,613,617,619,631, 641,661,673,677,683,691, 709}, T2={4597,4703,4723,4733,4789,4799,4813,4831,5003,5347,5641,5843,6011,8192}. From these new bounds it follows that for q <= 2593 and q=2693,2753, the relation t_{2}(2,q) < 4.5\sqrt{q} holds. Also, for q <= 4561 we have t_{2}(2,q) < 4.75\sqrt{q}. It is showed that for 23 <= q <= 4561 and q\in T2\cup {2^{14},2^{15},2^{18}}, the inequality t_{2}(2,q) < \sqrt{q}ln^{0.75}q is true. Moreover, the results obtained allow us to conjecture that this estimate holds for all q >= 23. The new upper bounds are obtained by finding new small complete arcs with the help of a computer search using randomized greedy algorithms. Also new constructions of complete arcs are proposed. These constructions form families of k-arcs in PG(2,q) containing arcs of all sizes k in a region k_{min} <= k <= k_{max} where k_{min} is of order q/3 or q/4 while k_{max} has order q/2. The completeness of the arcs obtained by the new constructions is proved for q <= 1367 and 2003 <= q <= 2063. There is reason to suppose that the arcs are complete for all q > 1367. New sizes of complete arcs in PG(2,q) are presented for 169 <= q <= 349 and q=1013,2003.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, 5 table

On 4-general sets in finite projective spaces

A $4$-general set in ${\rm PG}(n,q)$ is a set of points of ${\rm PG}(n,q)$ spanning the whole ${\rm PG}(n,q)$ and such that no four of them are on a plane. Such a pointset is said to be complete if it is not contained in a larger $4$-general set of ${\rm PG}(n, q)$. In this paper upper and lower bounds for the size of the largest and the smallest complete $4$-general set in ${\rm PG}(n,q)$, respectively, are investigated. Complete $4$-general sets in ${\rm PG}(n,q)$, $q \in \{3,4\}$, whose size is close to the theoretical upper bound are provided. Further results are also presented, including a description of the complete $4$-general sets in projective spaces of small dimension over small fields and the construction of a transitive $4$-general set of size $3(q + 1)$ in ${\rm PG}(5, q)$, $q \equiv 1 \pmod{3}$