Threshold Successive Cancellation Flip Decoding Algorithm for Polar Codes: Design and Performance.

Area of Science:

• Coding Theory
• Information Theory
• Digital Communications

Background:

• Successive Cancellation (SC) decoding is a standard for polar codes but can suffer from error propagation.
• Existing SC-flip (SCF) algorithms improve performance but may lack rigorous theoretical backing or have high complexity.
• Efficient decoding is crucial for advanced communication systems like 5G.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel decoding algorithm for polar codes, named threshold successive cancellation flip (Th-SCF).
• To enhance the performance of SC decoders while maintaining low computational complexity.
• To provide a rigorous theoretical framework for the Th-SCF algorithm and analyze its performance.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Th-SCF decoding algorithm for polar codes.
• Theoretical analysis to demonstrate the algorithm's ability to delay the first error position (FEP).
• Performance evaluation through simulations and comparison with existing methods like dynamic SC flip (D-SCF).

Main Results:

• The Th-SCF algorithm theoretically guarantees asymptotic delay of the FEP with probability 1.
• Simulations show Th-SCF achieves performance comparable to D-SCF but with reduced complexity due to the absence of sorting.
• The algorithm exhibits stable performance across various code lengths and rates within a specific threshold range.

Conclusions:

• The Th-SCF algorithm offers a theoretically sound and practically efficient approach to polar code decoding.
• It provides a valuable alternative to existing SCF methods, particularly for resource-constrained communication systems.
• The findings contribute to the design of advanced decoding strategies for 5G and beyond.