Generalized punctured convolutional codes

This letter introduces the class of generalized punctured convolutional codes (GPCCs), which is broader than and encompasses the class of the standard punctured convolutional codes (PCCs). A code in this class can be represented by a trellis module, the GPCC trellis module, whose topology resembles that of the minimal trellis module. he GPCC trellis module for a PCC is isomorphic to the minimal trellis module. A list containing GPCCs with better distance spectrum than the best known PCCs with same code rate and trellis complexity is presented.     

Convolutional Codes Under a Minimal Trellis Complexity Measure

We conduct a code search, restricted to the recently introduced class of generalized punctured convolutional codes, under the minimal trellis complexity measure defined by McEliece and Lin. For the same decoding complexity and the same code rate, new codes are compared to well-known existing classes of convolutional codes. Some of the best convolutional codes (in a distance spectrum sense) of existing and new trellis complexities are tabulated.     

A comparison of trellis modules for binary convolutional codes

A convolutional code can be represented by the conventional trellis module or the “minimal” trellis module based on the BCJR trellis for block codes. For many convolutional codes, the trellis complexity (TC) of the minimal module is significantly less than the TC of the conventional module. An alternative representation, consisting of an extended BCJR trellis module and a pruned version of the conventional module, was previously introduced. We prove that the overall TC of the two new modules is less than the TC of the conventional module for infinitely many codes. Furthermore, we show that the overall TC of the new modules is smaller than the TC of the minimal module for many codes considered in the literature     

On dualizing trellis-based APP decoding algorithms

The trellis of a finite Abelian group code is locally (i.e., trellis section by trellis section) related to the trellis of the corresponding dual group code which allows one to express the basic operations of the a posteriori probability (APP) decoding algorithm (defined on a single trellis section of the primal trellis) in terms of the corresponding dual trellis section. Using this local approach, any algorithm employing the same type of operations as the APP algorithm can, thus, be dualized, even if the global dual code does not exist (e.g., nongroup codes represented by a group trellis). Given this, the complexity advantage of the dual approach for high-rate codes can be generalized to a broader class of APP decoding algorithms, including suboptimum algorithms approximating the true APP, which may be more attractive in practical applications due to their reduced complexity. Moreover, the local approach opens the way for mixed approaches where the operations of the APP algorithm are not exclusively performed on the primal or dual trellis. This is inevitable if the code does not possess a trellis consisting solely of group trellis sections as, e.g., for certain terminated group or ring codes. The complexity reduction offered by applying dualization is evaluated. As examples, we give a dual implementation of a suboptimum APP decoding algorithm for tailbiting convolutional codes, as well as dual implementations of APP algorithms of the sliding-window type. Moreover, we evaluate their performance for decoding usual tailbiting codes or convolutional codes, respectively, as well as their performance as component decoders in iteratively decoded parallel concatenated schemes.     

Minimal tail-biting trellises: the Golay code and more

Tail-biting trellis representations of block codes are investigated. We develop some elementary theory, and present several intriguing examples, which we hope will stimulate further developments in this field. In particular, we construct a 16-state 12-section structurally invariant tail-biting trellis for the (24, 12, 8) binary Golay code. This tail-biting trellis representation is minimal: it simultaneously minimizes all conceivable measures of state complexity. Moreover, it compares favorably with the minimal conventional 12-section trellis for the Golay code, which has 256 states at its midpoint, or with the best quasi-cyclic representation of this code, which leads to a 64-state tail-biting trellis. Unwrapping this tail-biting trellis produces a periodically time-varying 16-state rate-1/2 “convolutional Golay code” with d=8, which has attractive performance/complexity properties. We furthermore show that the (6, 3, 4) quaternary hexacode has a minimal 8-state group tail-biting trellis, even though it has no such linear trellis over F₄. Minimal tail-biting trellises are also constructed for the (8, 4, 4) binary Hamming code, the (4, 2, 3) ternary tetracode, the (4, 2, 3) code over F₄, and the Z₄-linear (8. 4, 4) octacode     

Minimal transmitter complexity design of analytically describedtrellis codes

G. Ungerboeck's (1982) design rules for a class of bandlimited codes called trellis codes are reviewed. His design of the trellis is based on a set partitioning of the signal constellation, and he realized these trellis codes by a convolutional encoder followed by a mapping rule from the coder output to modulation symbols. R. Calderbank and J.E. Mazo (1984) showed how to realize trellis codes for one-dimensional signal sets in a single-step, easily derived, nonlinear transformation with memory on a sliding block of source symbols. The design rules that give a signal (state) specification in a trellis that yields the Calderbank-Mazo transformation with the smallest number of terms are presented. This gives a minimal transmitter complexity design. It is shown how to realize the Ungerboeck from the Calderbank-Mazo form, and as a result a step-by-step, search-free design procedure for trellis codes is presented. Two additional design rules are presented and applied to two examples by analytically designing two trellis codes. A simple procedure for converting an analytic code expression to a convolutional encoder realization is discussed. The analytic designs of a 4-D code and a 2-D code are presented     

Coset codes viewed as terminated convolutional codes

Coset codes are considered as terminated convolutional codes. Based on this approach, three new general results are presented. First, it is shown that the iterative squaring construction can equivalently be defined from a convolutional code whose trellis terminates. This convolutional code determines a simple encoder for the coset code considered, and the state and branch labelings of the associated trellis diagram become straightforward. Also, from the generator matrix of the code in its convolutional code form, much information about the trade-off between the state connectivity and complexity at each section, and the parallel structure of the trellis, is directly available. Based on this generator matrix, it is shown that the parallel branches in the trellis diagram of the convolutional code represent the same coset code C₁ of smaller dimension and shorter length. Utilizing this fact, a two-stage optimum trellis decoding method is devised. The first stage decodes C₁ while the second stage decodes the associated convolutional code, using the branch metrics delivered by stage 1. Finally, a bidirectional decoding of each received block starting at both ends is presented. If about the same number of computations is required, this approach remains very attractive from a practical point of view as it roughly doubles the decoding speed. This fact is particularly interesting whenever the second half of the trellis is the mirror image of the first half, since the same decoder can be implemented for both parts     

Parallel high-throughput limited search trellis decoder VLSI design

Limited search trellis decoding algorithms have great potentials of realizing low power due to their largely reduced computational complexity compared with the widely used Viterbi algorithm. However, because of the lack of operational parallelism and regularity in their original formulations, the limited search decoding algorithms have been traditionally ruled out for applications demanding very high throughput. We believe that, through appropriate algorithm and hardware architecture co-design, certain limited search trellis decoding algorithms can become serious competitors to the Viterbi algorithm for high-throughout applications. Focusing on the well-known T-algorithm, this paper presents techniques at the algorithm and VLSI architecture levels to design fully parallel T-algorithm limited search trellis decoders. We first develop a modified T-algorithm, called SPEC-T, to improve the algorithmic parallelism. Then, based on the conventional state-parallel register exchange Viterbi decoder, we develop a parallel SPEC-T decoder architecture that can effectively transform the reduced computational complexity at the algorithm level to the reduced switching activities in the hardware. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the SPEC-T design solution in the context of convolutional code decoding. Compared with state-parallel register exchange Viterbi decoders, the SPEC-T convolutional code decoders can achieve almost the same throughput and decoding performance, while realizing up to 56% power savings. For the first time, this work provides an approach to exploit the low power potential of the T-algorithm in very high throughput applications.     

Syndrome trellis codes based on minimal span generator matrix

To improve the embedding efficiency of steganography, syndrome coding based on the coding theory has attracted many researchers’ attentions. In this paper, we make use of the relationship between syndrome coding for minimizing additive distortion and maximum likelihood decoding for linear codes to analyze the main parameters of convolutional codes which influence the embedding efficiency. And, the new syndrome trellis codes based on minimal span generator matrix is proposed. It can be considered an alternative construction of the state-of-the-art syndrome trellis codes (STCs) proposed by Filler and Fridrich recently. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme owns the same embedding performance to STCs and achieve the reduced time complexity and storage requirement meanwhile.     

Two trellis coding schemes for large free distances

A trellis code encoded by using the encoder of a convolutional code C with a short constraint length followed by an additional processing unit is equivalent to a trellis code with a large constraint-length. In 1993, Hellstern proposed a trellis coding scheme for which the processing unit consists of a delay processor and a signal mapper. With Hellstern's scheme, trellis codes with large free distances can be constructed. In this paper, we propose two trellis coding schemes. For the first scheme, the processing unit is composed of multiple pairs of delay processors and signal mappers. For the second scheme, the processing unit is composed of a convolutional processor and a signal mapper, where a convolutional processor is a rate 1 convolutional code. The trellis code constructed from each of the proposed schemes can be suboptimally decoded by using the trellis of the convolutional code C with some feedback information. Either of the proposed schemes can produce a trellis code that has a larger bound on free distance and better error performance as compared to the trellis code constructed from Hellstern's scheme based on the same convolutional code C     

On Minimality of Convolutional Ring Encoders

Convolutional codes are considered with code sequences modeled as semi-infinite Laurent series. It is well known that a convolutional code C over a finite group G has a minimal trellis representation that can be derived from code sequences. It is also well known that, for the case that G is a finite field, any polynomial encoder of C can be algebraically manipulated to yield a minimal polynomial encoder whose controller canonical realization is a minimal trellis. In this paper we seek to extend this result to the finite ring case G = BBZpr by introducing a so-called ldquo p-encoderrdquo. We show how to manipulate a polynomial encoding scheme of a noncatastrophic convolutional code over BBZpr to produce a particular type of p-encoder (ldquominimal p -encoderrdquo) whose controller canonical realization is a minimal trellis with nonlinear features. The minimum number of trellis states is then expressed as p ^gamma, where gamma is the sum of the row degrees of the minimal p -encoder. In particular, we show that any convolutional code over BBZpr admits a delay-free p -encoder which implies the novel result that delay-freeness is not a property of the code but of the encoder, just as in the field case. We conjecture that a similar result holds with respect to catastrophicity, i.e., any catastrophic convolutional code over BBZpr admits a noncatastrophic p-encoder.     

Capacity of a band-limited CDMA MMSE receiver-based system whencombined with trellis or convolutional coding

This paper examines the achievable capacity of a direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access system based on an adaptive minimum mean-square-error (MMSE), single-user receiver over a Gaussian channel. The effect of using both trellis and convolutional codes of varying rates and complexity is investigated in relation to the effect on the maximum number of users and the achievable bit-error rate for a given number of users. A system based on a matched filter receiver is presented for the purposes of comparison. It has been found that, over the band-limited channel considered, the use of convolutional coding reduces the total system capacity for the high efficiency MMSE receiver while still providing a coding gain for a small numbers of users. The use of trellis codes however leads to increased system capacity     

Space-time codes and concatenated channel codes for wirelesscommunications

Following a brief historical perspective on channel coding, an introduction to space-time block codes is given. The various space-time codes considered are then concatenated with a range of channel codecs, such as convolutional and block-based turbo codes as well as conventional and turbo trellis codes. The associated estimated complexity issues and memory requirements are also considered. These discussions are followed by a performance study of various space-time and channel-coded transceivers. Our aim is first to identify a space-time code/channel code combination constituting a good engineering tradeoff in terms of its effective throughput, bit-error-rate performance, and estimated complexity. Specifically, the issue of bit-to-symbol mapping is addressed in the context of convolutional codes (CCs) and convolutional coding as well as Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem coding-based turbo codes in conjunction with an attractive unity-rate space-time code and multilevel modulation is detailed. It is concluded that over the nondispersive or narrow-band fading channels, the best performance versus complexity tradeoff is constituted by Alamouti's twin-antenna block space-time code concatenated with turbo convolutional codes. Further comparisons with space-time trellis codes result in similar conclusions     

Good trellises for IC implementation of Viterbi decoders for linearblock codes

This paper investigates trellis structures of linear block codes for the integrated circuit (IC) implementation of Viterbi decoders capable of achieving high decoding speed while satisfying a constraint on the structural complexity of the trellis in terms of the maximum number of states at any particular depth. Only uniform sectionalizations of the code trellis diagram are considered. An upper-bound on the number of parallel and structurally identical (or isomorphic) subtrellises in a proper trellis for a code without exceeding the maximum state complexity of the minimal trellis of the code is first derived. Parallel structures of trellises with various section lengths for binary BCH and Reed-Muller (RM) codes of lengths 32 and 64 are analyzed. Next, the complexity of the IC implementation of a Viterbi decoder based on an L-section trellis diagram for a code is investigated. A structural property of a Viterbi decoder called add-compare-select (ACS)-connectivity which is related to state connectivity is introduced. This parameter affects the complexity of wire-routing (interconnections within the IC). The effect of five parameters namely: (1) effective computational complexity; (2) complexity of the ACS-circuit; (3) traceback complexity; (4) ACS-connectivity; and (5) branch complexity of a trellis diagram on the very large scale integration (VLSI) complexity of a Viterbi decoder is investigated. It is shown that an IC implementation of a Viterbi decoder based on a nonminimal trellis requires less area and is capable of operation at higher speed than one based on the minimal trellis when the commonly used ACS-array architecture is considered     

Trellis complexity and minimal trellis diagrams of lattices

This paper presents results on trellis complexity and low-complexity trellis diagrams of lattices. We establish constructive upper bounds on the trellis complexity of lattices. These bounds both improve and generalize the similar results of Tarokh and Vardy (see ibid., vol.43, p.1294-1300, 1997). We also construct trellis diagrams with minimum number of paths for some important lattices. Such trellises are called minimal. The constructed trellises, which are novel in many cases, can be employed to efficiently decode the lattices via the Viterbi algorithm. In particular, a general structure for minimal trellis diagrams of D_n lattices is obtained. This structure corresponds to a new code formula for D_n. Moreover, we develop some important duality results which are used in both deriving the upper bounds, and finding the minimal trellises. All the discussions are based on a universal approach to the construction and analysis of trellis diagrams of lattices using their bases     

Codes on graphs: constraint complexity of cycle-free realizations of linear codes

Cycle-free graphical realizations of linear codes generalize trellis realizations. Given a linear code C and a cycle-free graph topology, there exists a well-defined minimal realization for C on that graph in which each constraint is a linear code with a well-defined length and dimension. The constraint complexity of the realization is defined as maximum dimension of any constraint code. There exists a graph that minimizes constraint complexity in which all internal nodes have degree 3 and all interface nodes have degree 2, and which moreover can be put in the form of a "tree-structured trellis realization." The constraint complexity of a general cycle-free graph realization can be less than that of any conventional trellis realization, but not by very much. Such realizations can yield reductions in decoding complexity even when they do not reduce constraint complexity.     

Improved algorithms for the determination of turbo-code weight distributions

We discuss algorithms for determining exactly the lower terms of the weight distribution of a turbo code. Several improvements on the recently introduced algorithm by Garello et al. are outlined. The techniques presented in this letter improve the observed asymptotic complexity by a factor proportional to the information length. As an example, the improved algorithm is applied to the determination of the minimum distance of all universal mobile telecommunications system turbo codes. We further apply the improved algorithm to high-rate turbo codes using high-rate nonpunctured constituent codes. To reduce complexity, the constituent codes are represented by a minimal information bit-oriented trellis.     

Sphere-packing bounds for convolutional codes

We introduce general sphere-packing bounds for convolutional codes. These improve upon the Heller (1968) bound for high-rate convolutional codes. For example, based on the Heller bound, McEliece (1998) suggested that for a rate (n - 1)/n convolutional code of free distance 5 with /spl nu/ memory elements in its minimal encoder it holds that n /spl les/ 2/sup (/spl nu/+1)/2/. A simple corollary of our bounds shows that in this case, n < 2/sup /spl nu//2/, an improvement by a factor of /spl radic/2. The bound can be further strengthened. Note that the resulting bounds are also highly useful for codes of limited bit-oriented trellis complexity. Moreover, the results can be used in a constructive way in the sense that they can be used to facilitate efficient computer search for codes.     

LOW RATE SPACE-TIME TRELLIS CODES INPOWER LIMITED WIRELESSCOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Space-time trellis codes can achieve the best tradeoff among bandwidth efficiency, diversity gain, constellation size and trellis complexity. In this paper, some optimum low rate space-time trellis codes are proposed. Performance analysis and simulation show that the low rate space-time trellis codes outperform space-time block codes concatenated with convolutional code at the same bandwidth efficiency, and are more suitable for the power limited wireless communication system.