Estimating the fraction of erasure patterns correctable by linear codes

The conditional probability (fraction) of the successful decoding of erasure patterns of high (greater than the code distance) weights is investigated for linear codes with the partially known or unknown weight spectra of code words. The estimated conditional probabilities and the methods used to calculate them refer to arbitrary binary linear codes and binary Hamming, Panchenko, and Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (BCH) codes, including their extended and shortened forms. Error detection probabilities are estimated under erasure-correction conditions. The product-code decoding algorithms involving the correction of high weight erasures by means of component Hamming, Panchenko, and BCH codes are proposed, and the upper estimate of decoding failure probability is presented.     

Some lower bounds on the minimum weight of cyclic codes of composite length

An extension of Goethals' results [3] is presented. Cyclic codes of composite block lengthn = n_{1}n_{2}withn_{1}andn_{2}relatively prime are considered. By using a modified form of the Mattson-Solomon formulation [5], some lower bounds on the minimum weight are obtained. These lower bounds improve on the BCH bound [4] for a considerable number of nonprimitive BCH codes.     

Composition bounds for channel block codes

The performance of Channel block codes for a general channel is studied by examining the relationship between the rate of a code, the joint composition of pairs of codewords, and the probability of decoding error. At fixed rate, lower bounds and upper bounds, both on minimum Bhattacharyya distance between codewords and on minimum equivocation distance between codewords, are derived. These bounds resemble, respectively, the Gilbert and the Elias bounds on the minimum Hamming distance between codewords. For a certain large class of channels, a lower bound on probability of decoding error for low-rate channel codes is derived as a consequence of the upper bound on Bhattacharyya distance. This bound is always asymptotically tight at zero rate. Further, for some channels, it is asymptotically tighter than the straight line bound at low rates. Also studied is the relationship between the bounds on codeword composition for arbitrary alphabets and the expurgated bound for arbitrary channels having zero error capacity equal to zero. In particular, it is shown that the expurgated reliability-rate function for blocks of letters is achieved by a product distribution whenever it is achieved by a block probability distribution with strictly positive components.     

Binomial moments of the distance distribution: bounds andapplications

We study a combinatorial invariant of codes which counts the number of ordered pairs of codewords in all subcodes of restricted support in a code. This invariant can be expressed as a linear form of the components of the distance distribution of the code with binomial numbers as coefficients. For this reason we call it a binomial moment of the distance distribution. Binomial moments appear in the proof of the MacWilliams (1963) identities and in many other problems of combinatorial coding theory. We introduce a linear programming problem for bounding these linear forms from below. It turns out that some known codes (1-error-correcting perfect codes, Golay codes, Nordstrom-Robinson code, etc.) yield optimal solutions of this problem, i.e., have minimal possible binomial moments of the distance distribution. We derive several general feasible solutions of this problem, which give lower bounds on the binomial moments of codes with given parameters, and derive the corresponding asymptotic bounds. Applications of these bounds include new lower bounds on the probability of undetected error for binary codes used over the binary-symmetric channel with crossover probability p and optimality of many codes for error detection. Asymptotic analysis of the bounds enables us to extend the range of code rates in which the upper bound on the undetected error exponent is tight     

Undetected error probabilities of binary primitive BCH codes forboth error correction and detection

We investigate the undetected error probabilities for bounded-distance decoding of binary primitive BCH codes when they are used for both error correction and detection on a binary symmetric channel. We show that the undetected error probability of binary linear codes can be simplified and quantified if the weight distribution of the code is binomial-like. We obtain bounds on the undetected error probability of binary primitive BCH codes by applying the result to the code and show that the bounds are quantified by the deviation factor of the true weight distribution from the binomial-like weight distribution     

On the frame-error rate of concatenated turbo codes

Turbo codes with long frame lengths are usually constructed using a randomly chosen interleaver. Statistically, this guarantees excellent bit-error rate (BER) performance but also generates a certain number of low weight codewords, resulting in the appearance of an error floor in the BER curve. Several methods, including using an outer code, have been proposed to improve the error floor region of the BER curve. We study the effect of an outer BCH code on the frame-error rate (FER) of turbo codes. We show that additional coding gain is possible not only in the error floor region but also in the waterfall region. Also, the outer code improves the iterative APP decoder by providing a stopping criterion and alleviating convergence problems. With this method, we obtain codes whose performance is within 0.6 dB of the sphere packing bound at an FER of 10^-6     

Algebraic lower bounds on the free distance of convolutional codes

A new module structure for convolutional codes is introduced and used to establish further links with quasi-cyclic and cyclic codes. The set of finite weight codewords of an (n,k) convolutional code over F_q is shown to be isomorphic to an F_q[x]-submodule of F_q ⁿ[x], where F_q ⁿ[x] is the ring of polynomials in indeterminate x over F_q ⁿ, an extension field of F_q. Such a module can then be associated with a quasi-cyclic code of index n and block length nL viewed as an F_q[x]-submodule of F_q ⁿ[x]/langx^L-1rang, for any positive integer L. Using this new module approach algebraic lower bounds on the free distance of a convolutional code are derived which can be read directly from the choice of polynomial generators. Links between convolutional codes and cyclic codes over the field extension F_q ⁿ are also developed and Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH)-type results are easily established in this setting. Techniques to find the optimal choice of the parameter L are outlined     

On the computation of the performance probabilities for block codeswith a bounded-distance decoding rule

When a block code is used on a discrete memoryless channel with an incomplete decoding rule that is based on a generalized distance, the probability of decoding failure, the probability of erroneous decoding, and the expected number of symbol decoding errors can be expressed in terms of the generalized weight enumerator polynomials of the code. For the symmetric erasure channel, numerically stable methods to compute these probabilities or expectations are proposed for binary codes whose distance distributions are known, and for linear maximum distance separable (MDS) codes. The method for linear MDS codes saves the computation of the weight distribution and yields upper bounds for the probability of erroneous decoding and for the symbol error rate by the cumulative binomial distribution. Numerical examples include a triple-error-correcting Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) code of length 63 and a Reed-Solomon code of length 1023 and minimum distance 31     

On computing the weight spectrum of cyclic codes

Two deterministic algorithms of computing the weight spectra of binary cyclic codes are presented. These algorithms have the lowest known complexity for cyclic codes. For BCH codes of lengths 63 and 127, several first coefficients of the weight spectrum in number sufficient to evaluate the bounded distance decoding error probability are computed     

二元等距码的Q-变换分布及其应用

研究了二元等距码、等重等距码及其距离分布的Q-变换。通过使用Q-变换分布的性质,研究了二元等距码和等重等距码的最大码字数并得到2个新的上界,这些上界在某些情况下优于已知的结果。     

Improved Analysis of List Decoding and Its Application to Convolutional Codes and Turbo Codes

A list decoder generates a list of more than one codeword candidates, and decoding is erroneous if the transmitted codeword is not included in the list. This decoding strategy can be implemented in a system that employs an inner error correcting code and an outer error detecting code that is used to choose the correct codeword from the list. Probability of codeword error analysis for a linear block code with list decoding is typically based on the "worst case" lower bound on the effective weights of codewords for list decoding evaluated from the weight enumerating function of the code. In this paper, the concepts of generalized pairwise error event and effective weight enumerating function are proposed for evaluation of the probability of codeword error of linear block codes with list decoding. Geometrical analysis shows that the effective Euclidean distances are not necessarily as low as those predicted by the lower bound. An approach to evaluate the effective weight enumerating function of a particular code with list decoding is proposed. The effective Euclidean distances for decisions in each pairwise error event are evaluated taking into consideration the actual Hamming distance relationships between codewords, which relaxes the pessimistic assumptions upon which the traditional lower bound analysis is based. Using the effective weight enumerating function, a more accurate approximation is achieved for the probability of codeword error of the code with list decoding. The proposed approach is applied to codes of practical interest, including terminated convolutional codes and turbo codes with the parallel concatenation structure     

Studying the locator polynomials of minimum weight codewords of BCHcodes

Primitive binary cyclic codes of length n=2^m are considered. A BCH code with designed distance δ is denoted B(n,δ). A BCH code is always a narrow-sense BCH code. A codeword is identified with its locator polynomial, whose coefficients are the symmetric functions of the locators. The definition of the code by its zeros-set involves some properties for the power sums of the locators. Moreover, the symmetric functions and the power sums of the locators are related to Newton's identities. An algebraic point of view is presented in order to prove or disprove the existence of words of a given weight in a code. The principal result is the true minimum distance of some BCH codes of length 255 and 511. which were not known. The minimum weight codewords of the codes B(n2^h -1) are studied. It is proved that the set of the minimum weight codewords of the BCH code B(n,2^m-2-1) equals the set of the minimum weight codewords of the punctured Reed-Muller code of length n and order 2, for any m     

An Improved Bound on the List Error Probability and List Distance Properties

List decoding of binary block codes for the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel is considered. The output of a list decoder is a list of the most likely codewords, that is, the signal points closest to the received signal in the Euclidean-metric sense. A decoding error occurs when the transmitted codeword is not on this list. It is shown that the list error probability is fully described by the so-called list configuration matrix, which is the Gram matrix obtained from the signal vectors forming the list. The worst case list configuration matrix determines the minimum list distance of the code, which is a generalization of the minimum distance to the case of list decoding. Some properties of the list configuration matrix are studied and their connections to the list distance are established. These results are further exploited to obtain a new upper bound on the list error probability, which is tighter than the previously known bounds. This bound is derived by combining the techniques for obtaining the tangential union bound with an improved bound on the error probability for a given list. The results are illustrated by examples.     

DC-free coset codes

A class of block coset codes with disparity and run-length constraints are studied. They are particularly well suited for high-speed optical fiber links and similar channels, where DC-free pulse formats, channel error control, and low-complexity encoder-decoder implementations are required. The codes are derived by partitioning linear block codes. The encoder and decoder structures are the same as those of linear block codes with only slight modifications. A special class of DC-free coset block codes are derived from BCH codes with specified bounds on minimum distance, disparity, and run length. The codes have low disparity levels (a small running digital sum) and good error-correcting capabilities     

On the generalized Hamming weights of several classes of cycliccods

The generalized Hamming weights of a linear code are fundamental code parameters related to the minimal overlap structures of the subcodes. They were introduced by V.K. Wei (1991) and shown to characterize the performance of the linear code in certain cryptographical applications. Results are presented on the generalized Hamming weights of several classes of binary cyclic codes, including primitive double-error-correcting and triple-error-correcting BCH codes, certain reversible cyclic codes, and some extended binary Goppa codes. In particular, the second generalized Hamming weight of primitive double-error-correcting BCH codes is determined and upper and lower bounds are obtained for the generalized Hamming weights for the codes studied. These bounds are compared to results from other methods     

A simple decoding of BCH codes over GF(2m)

A simple decoding method for even minimum-distance Bose-Chaudhuri-Hochquenghem (BCH) codes is proposed. In the method the coefficients of an error locator polynomial are given as simple determinants (named Q determinants) composed of syndromes. The error evaluator is realized as a Q determinant divided by an error locator polynomial. The Q determinants can be efficiently obtained with very simple calculations on syndromes enabling the realization of a high-speed decoder of simple configuration. The number of calculations in obtaining the error locator and the error evaluator with the proposed method is smaller than that with the widely used Berlekamp-Massey algorithm when the number of correctable errors of the code is five or less. The proposed method can also be applied to the binary narrow-sense BCH codes of odd minimum distance     

A new class of binary codes constructed on the basis of BCH codes (Corresp.)

In this correspondence, we present a new class of binary codes that are constructed on the basis of BCH codes. Some examples of these codes are given, having more codewords than the best codes previously known (to the authors) with the same minimum distance and number of check symbols. A decoding algorithm for the codes is also described.     

Extended synchronizing codewords for binary prefix codes

Synchronizing codewords (SCs) have been previously studied as a means to stop error propagation in variable-length codes. However, SCs retain one disadvantage: the symbols after the SC may be put in the wrong positions since the number of decoded symbols before the SC can be different from the original number due to channel errors. Thus we propose the idea of extended synchronizing codewords (ESCs) which can overcome the drawback of SCs. After the decoder receives an ESC, the decoder correctly knows it is in synchronization, regardless of the preceding slippage. We derive some of the essential properties of ESCs and provide several upper bounds on the amount of overhead needed in designing a code with an ESC     

Minimum weight convolutional codewords of finite length (Corresp.)

For convolutional codes, thc variation of the minimum distance between nonmerging codewords with the lengths of those codewords is considered for all finite lengths. This is carried out in terms of a new distance parameter for convolutional codes do, the minimum average weight per branch over all cycles. Upper and lower bounds on do for binary convolutional codes of rate1/nare presented. The tradeoff betweend_{o}and the free distanced_{free}is obtained for small memory length codes.     

An average weight-distance enumerator for binary expansions ofReed-Solomon codes

An average Hamming weight enumerator is derived for the codewords at each Hamming distance from a received pattern in the set of all possible binary expansions of a Reed-Solomon code. Since these codes may be decoded by list decoders, such as those studied by Sudan (1997), the enumerator can be used to estimate the average number of codewords in the list returned by such a decoder