Efficient Search of Girth-Optimal QC-LDPC Codes

In this paper, we study the cycle structure of quasi-cyclic (QC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with the goal of obtaining the shortest code with a given degree distribution and girth. We focus on QC-LDPC codes, whose Tanner graphs are cyclic liftings of fully connected base graphs of size 3 × n, n 4, and obtain minimal lifting degrees that result in girths 6 and 8. This is performed through an efficient exhaustive search, and as a result, we also find all the possible non-isomorphic codes with the same minimum block length, girth, and degree distribution. The exhaustive search, which is ordinarily a formidable task, is made possible by pruning the search space of many codes that are isomorphic to those previously examined in the search process. Many of the pruning techniques proposed in this paper are also applicable to QC-LDPC codes with base graphs other than the 3 × n fully connected ones discussed here, as well as to codes with a larger girth. To further demonstrate the effectiveness of the pruning techniques, we use them to search for QC-LDPC codes with girths 10 and 12, and find a number of such codes that have a shorter block length compared with the best known similar codes in the literature. In addition, motivated by the exhaustive search results, we tighten the lower bound on the block length of QC-LDPC codes of girth 6 constructed from fully connected 3 × n base graphs, and construct codes that achieve the lower bound for an arbitrary value of n 4

Symmetrical Constructions for Regular Girth-8 QC-LDPC Codes

In this paper, we propose new constructions for regular girth-8 quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes based on circulant permutation matrices (CPM). The constructions assume symmetries in the structure of the parity-check matrix and employ a greedy exhaustive search algorithm to find the permutation shifts of the CPMs. As a result of symmetries, the new codes have a more compact representation compared with their counterparts. In majority of cases, also, they achieve the girth 8 at a shorter block length for the same degree distribution (code rate). Deterministic (explicit) constructions are also presented to expand the proposed parity-check matrices to larger block lengths and higher rates. The proposed long high-rate codes are often substantially shorter than regular girth-8 QC-LDPC codes of similar rate in the literature. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed symmetric codes have competitive performance in comparison with similar existing QC-LDPC codes that lack symmetry