In the first part of this thesis we are interested in the asymptotic performance analysis of Non-Binary Low-Density Parity-Check (NBLDPC) codes over the Binary Erasure Channel (BEC) decoded via the suboptimal Belief Propagation (BP) decoder as well as the optimal Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) decoder. Previously, NBLDPC codes defined with respect to a finite field have been studied in the literature. Unfortunately, for these codes the asymptotic analysis of the BP decoder in terms of density evolution is cumbersome since the involved densities "live" in a high dimensional space. To alleviate this problem, we introduce ensembles defined with respect to the general linear group. For these ensembles the density evolution equations can be written in a compact form. We compute thresholds for different alphabet sizes for various NBLDPC ensembles. Surprisingly, the threshold is not a monotonic function of the alphabet size. We also conjecture the stability condition for NBLDPC ensembles defined with respect to finite fields over any binary memoryless symmetric channel. We then consider the performance of NBLDPC codes under MAP decoding when transmission takes place over the BEC. Towards this goal, we generalize the concepts of the peeling decoder and stopping sets to NBLDPC codes. Using these concepts, we give a combinatorial characterization of decoding failures for NBLDPC codes decoded via the BP decoder. We use the decoding failure criterion and the density evolution analysis to compute the asymptotic residual degree distribution for NBLDPC codes. The rate of this residual ensemble gives the conditional entropy of the NBLDPC code. To compute the rate of the residual ensemble we generalize the criterion of [1] to the non-binary setting, which, when satisfied, guarantees that almost every code in the ensemble has a rate equal to the design rate. We observe that the Maxwell construction of [1], relating the performance of MAP and BP decoding via the Extended BP GEXIT (EBP GEXIT [2]) function, holds in the setting of NBLDPC codes. The weight and stopping set distribution of a code are related to its performance under the MAP and the BP decoder respectively. We first concentrate on the weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. We derive the average weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. Using this, we derive the average of equivalent binary weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. We show that as the alphabet size becomes larger the equivalent binary weight distribution converges to the weight distribution of Gallager's random parity check ensemble. The average weight distribution of binary LDPC ensembles has been extensively studied in the literature. Much less is known about the probability distribution of this quantity. In particular, the question of the concentration of the weight distribution around the ensemble average has not been addressed. We compute the variance of the weight distribution of binary regular LDPC ensembles. Using this and the second moment method we obtain bounds on the probability that a randomly chosen code has its weight distribution close to the ensemble average. We show that a large fraction of the total number of codes have their weight distribution close to the average. We apply the same technique for the stopping set distribution of binary regular LDPC ensembles. Again we show that a large fraction of total number of codes have their stopping set distribution close to the ensemble average. In the last part of this thesis we address the question of the existence of the EBP GEXIT function. The EBP GEXIT function plays a fundamental role in the asymptotic analysis of sparse graph codes. For transmission over the BEC using binary LDPC codes, the analytic properties of the EBP GEXIT function are relatively simple and well understood. The case of general BMS channel is much harder and even the existence of the curve is not known in general. We introduce some tools from non-linear analysis which can be useful to prove the existence of EXIT like curves in some cases. The main tool is the Krasnoselskii-Rabinowitz (KR) bifurcation theorem.
In the first part of this thesis we are interested in the asymptotic performance analysis of Non-Binary Low-Density Parity-Check (NBLDPC) codes over the Binary Erasure Channel (BEC) decoded via the suboptimal Belief Propagation (BP) decoder as well as the optimal Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) decoder. Previously, NBLDPC codes defined with respect to a finite field have been studied in the literature. Unfortunately, for these codes the asymptotic analysis of the BP decoder in terms of density evolution is cumbersome since the involved densities "live" in a high dimensional space. To alleviate this problem, we introduce ensembles defined with respect to the general linear group. For these ensembles the density evolution equations can be written in a compact form. We compute thresholds for different alphabet sizes for various NBLDPC ensembles. Surprisingly, the threshold is not a monotonic function of the alphabet size. We also conjecture the stability condition for NBLDPC ensembles defined with respect to finite fields over any binary memoryless symmetric channel. We then consider the performance of NBLDPC codes under MAP decoding when transmission takes place over the BEC. Towards this goal, we generalize the concepts of the peeling decoder and stopping sets to NBLDPC codes. Using these concepts, we give a combinatorial characterization of decoding failures for NBLDPC codes decoded via the BP decoder. We use the decoding failure criterion and the density evolution analysis to compute the asymptotic residual degree distribution for NBLDPC codes. The rate of this residual ensemble gives the conditional entropy of the NBLDPC code. To compute the rate of the residual ensemble we generalize the criterion of [1] to the non-binary setting, which, when satisfied, guarantees that almost every code in the ensemble has a rate equal to the design rate. We observe that the Maxwell construction of [1], relating the performance of MAP and BP decoding via the Extended BP GEXIT (EBP GEXIT [2]) function, holds in the setting of NBLDPC codes. The weight and stopping set distribution of a code are related to its performance under the MAP and the BP decoder respectively. We first concentrate on the weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. We derive the average weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. Using this, we derive the average of equivalent binary weight distribution of regular NBLDPC ensembles. We show that as the alphabet size becomes larger the equivalent binary weight distribution converges to the weight distribution of Gallager's random parity check ensemble. The average weight distribution of binary LDPC ensembles has been extensively studied in the literature. Much less is known about the probability distribution of this quantity. In particular, the question of the concentration of the weight distribution around the ensemble average has not been addressed. We compute the variance of the weight distribution of binary regular LDPC ensembles. Using this and the second moment method we obtain bounds on the probability that a randomly chosen code has its weight distribution close to the ensemble average. We show that a large fraction of the total number of codes have their weight distribution close to the average. We apply the same technique for the stopping set distribution of binary regular LDPC ensembles. Again we show that a large fraction of total number of codes have their stopping set distribution close to the ensemble average. In the last part of this thesis we address the question of the existence of the EBP GEXIT function. The EBP GEXIT function plays a fundamental role in the asymptotic analysis of sparse graph codes. For transmission over the BEC using binary LDPC codes, the analytic properties of the EBP GEXIT function are relatively simple and well understood. The case of general BMS channel is much harder and even the existence of the curve is not known in general. We introduce some tools from non-linear analysis which can be useful to prove the existence of EXIT like curves in some cases. The main tool is the Krasnoselskii-Rabinowitz (KR) bifurcation theorem.
In this paper, the transmission over the binary erasure channel (BEC) using non-binary LDPC (NBLDPC) codes is considered. The concept of peeling decoder and stopping sets is generalized to NBLDPC codes. Using these generalizations, a combinatorial characterization of decoding failures of NBLDPC codes is given, under assumption that the Belief Propagation (BP) decoder is used. Then, the residual ensemble of codes resulted by the BP decoder is defined and the design rate and the expectation of total number of codewords of the residual ensemble are computed. The decoding failure criterion combined with the density evolution analysis helps us to compute the asymptotic residual degree distribution for NBLDPC codes. Our approach to compute the residual degree distribution on the check node side is not efficient as it is based on enumeration of all the possible connections on the check node side which satisfy the decoding failure criterion. So, the computation of the asymptotic check node side residual degree distribution and further part of our analysis is performed for NBLDPC codes over GF2mwithm= 2 . In order to show that asymptotically almost every code in such LDPC ensemble has a rate equal to the design rate, we generalize the argument of the Maxwell construction to NBLDPC codes, defined over GF22. It is also observed that, like in the binary setting, the Maxwell construction, relating the performance of MAP and BP decoding holds in this setting.
This thesis addresses the topic of Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) code analysis, both asymptotically and for finite block lengths. Since in general it is a difficult problem to analyze individual code instances, ensemble averages are studied by following Gallager's original idea and results of Luby et al. Often, one can relate the insights gained by studying ensemble averages to statements regarding individual codes by proving that most elements in the ensemble behave "close" to the average. One important such average is the average weight distribution, another is the average pseudo-codeword distribution, where pseudo-codewords play the same role under iterative decoding as codewords do for maximum likelihood decoding. One of the main contributions of this thesis is the calculation of such averages for fully irregular LDPC code ensembles. Much of classical coding theory is aimed at the construction of codes with large minimum distance. This is so since away from capacity accurate bounds on the performance of a code can be given in terms of its minimum distance (or more generally, in terms of its weight distribution). Therefore, it is of interest to investigate what role the minimum distance plays for iteratively decoded LDPC code ensembles. In particular, sequences of capacity-achieving LDPC code ensembles of increasing length when transmission takes place over the Binary Erasure Channel (BEC) are investigated. It is shown that, under certain technical conditions, the minimum distance of such ensembles grows sub-linearly in the block length, a result which is somewhat surprising from a classical point of view. Specific attention is also given to the design of LDPC code ensembles, where an inherent trade-off is observed between achieving large minimum distance (which is relevant for the so called error-floor regime) and achieving a large threshold (which in the limit of long block lengths determines the worst channel on which transmission can be accomplished reliably). Most results on iterative coding systems to date address their asymptotic performance, i.e., their performance when the block length tends to infinity. For small and moderate block lengths the behavior of a code can deviate significantly from its asymptotic limit. It is therefore of high practical value to be able to analyze the finite-length performance of LDPC code ensembles. In this thesis, an exact such analysis is presented for iteratively decoded LDPC code ensembles over the BEC. In particular, expressions for the exact average bit and block erasure probabilities are computed by solving a set of recursions. Such an analysis is the starting point for a finite-length optimization, a topic which is slated for future work. The methods used in this thesis include a combinatorial approach (familiar to the coding society) as well as the powerful techniques developed in the statistical physics community, for example, the replica method or the mean-field approximation. Although the statistical physics techniques are ideally suited for the analysis of iterative coding systems, they are to date only accessible to a relatively small community. Therefore, an overview of these techniques is first presented using a language familiar to the coding theory community. Next, in order to highlight the differences and common points between the combinatorial and the statistical physics approaches, both techniques are applied to the weight distribution problem. It turns out that for regular ensembles, both methods yield the same result, while for irregular ensembles, they do differ in general.
We consider transmission over the binary erasure channel (BEC) using non-binary LDPC codes. We generalize the concept of stopping sets to non-binary LDPC codes. We give a combinatorial characterization of decoding failures for non-binary LDPC codes decoded via Belief Propagation (BP). Using the density evolution analysis, we compute the asymptotic residual degree distribution for non-binary LDPC codes. In order to show that asymptotically almost every code in the non-binary LDPC ensemble has a rate equal to the design rate, we generalize the arguments of Measson, Montanari, and Urbanke to the non-binary setting. This generalization enables us to compute the conditional entropy of non-binary LDPC codes. We observe that the Maxwell construction of Measson, Montanari, and Urbanke relating the performance of MAP and BP decoding, holds in the setting of non-binary LDPC codes.
The density evolution equations for non-binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) ensembles when transmission takes place over the binary erasure channel are derived. Ensembles defined with respect to the general linear group over the binary field are introduced. For these ensembles the density evolution equations can be written compactly. The density evolution for the general linear group helps in understanding the density evolution for codes defined with respect to finite fields. Thresholds are computed for different alphabet sizes for various LDPC ensembles. Surprisingly, the threshold is not a monotonic function of the alphabet size. The stability condition for non-binary LDPC ensembles over any binary memoryless symmetric channel is stated. Upper bounds on the MAP thresholds for various non-binary ensembles based on EXIT curves and the area theorem are given.
Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are linear codes defined by sparse parity check matrices.Due to the sparseness of the parity check matrices, LDPC codes are efficiently decoded by the belief propagation (BP) decoder.It is known that non-binary LDPC codes can outperform binary ones.However, the decoding complexity grows with the size of non-binary alphabets.Hence, there is a trade-off between performance and complexity.In this dissertation, we focus on both binary and non-binary LDPC codes.We analyze the decoding error probability for finite length LDPC codes under BP decoding.The curve of the decoding error probability for finite length LDPC codes, as a function of channel error probability, is divided into two regions called waterfall region and error floor region.We analyze the decoding error probability in the waterfall region for binary LDPC codes and in the error floor region for non-binary LDPC codes.The main results of this dissertation are summarized as follows:• We analyze the decoding erasure probabilities of waterfall regions for binary LDPC codes over binary erasure channels (BECs) without any assumptions by analytically solving the covariance evolution.• We propose a method to lower the decoding error rates in the error floors of non-binary LDPC codes defined over Galois field and general linear group transmitted over the BEC, the memoryless binary-input output-symmetric (MBIOS) channel and q-ary memoryless symmetric (q-MS) channel.Simulation results show that the decoding error rates of the codes designed by the proposed method outperform those of the codes designed by the conventional method proposed by Poulliat et al.• We give lower bounds of decoding error rates in the error floor regions for non-binary LDPC codes over the BEC, MBIOS channel and q-MS channel.Simulation results show that those lower bounds are tight.Moreover, we show that the decoding error rates for non-binary LDPC codes defined over general linear group have same decoding performance in the error floor regions with that for non-binary LDPC codes defined over Galois field.Furthermore, we show that this tight lower bound monotonically decreases, as the order of Galois field of non-binary LDPC code increases in the BEC and binary additive white Gaussian noise channel.iii • We derive the weight distribution of the decoding error patterns in the BP decoder for non-binary LDPC codes defined over general linear group transmitted over the BEC.
A generalized low-density parity check code (GLDPC) is a low-density parity check code in which the constraint nodes of the code graph are block codes, rather than single parity checks. In this paper, we study GLDPC codes which have BCH or Reed-Solomon codes as subcodes under bounded distance decoding (BDD). The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated in the limit case of an infinite length (cycle free) code used over a binary erasure channel (BEC) and the corresponding thresholds for iterative decoding are derived. The performance of the proposed scheme for finite code lengths over a BEC is investigated as well. Structures responsible for decoding failures are defined and a theoretical analysis over the ensemble of GLDPC codes which yields exact bit and block error rates of the ensemble average is derived. Unfortunately this study shows that GLDPC codes do not compare favorably with their LDPC counterpart over the BEC. Fortunately, it is also shown that under certain conditions, objects identified in the analysis of GLDPC codes over a BEC and the corresponding theoretical results remain useful to derive tight lower bounds on the performance of GLDPC codes over a binary symmetric channel (BSC). Simulation results show that the proposed method yields competitive performance with a good decoding complexity trade-off for the BSC.