Deep Learning Aided SCL Decoding of Polar Codes with Shifted-Pruning

Recently,a generalized successive cancellation list(SCL)decoder implemented with shiftedpruning(SP)scheme,namely the SCL-SP-ωdecoder,is presented for polar codes,which is able to shift the pruning window at mostωtimes during each SCL re-decoding attempt to prevent the correct path from being eliminated.The candidate positions for applying the SP scheme are selected by a shifting metric based on the probability that the elimination occurs.However,the number of exponential/logarithm operations involved in the SCL-SP-ωdecoder grows linearly with the number of information bits and list size,which leads to high computational complexity.In this paper,we present a detailed analysis of the SCL-SP-ωdecoder in terms of the decoding performance and complexity,which unveils that the choice of the shifting metric is essential for improving the decoding performance and reducing the re-decoding attempts simultaneously.Then,we introduce a simplified metric derived from the path metric(PM)domain,and a custom-tailored deep learning(DL)network is further designed to enhance the efficiency of the proposed simplified metric.The proposed metrics are both free of transcendental functions and hence,are more hardware-friendly than the existing metrics.Simulation results show that the proposed DL-aided metric provides the best error correction performance as comparison with the state of the art.

List-Serial Pipelined Hardware Architecture for SCL Decoding of Polar Codes

For polar codes,the performance of successive cancellation list(SCL)decoding is capable of approaching that of maximum likelihood decoding.However,the existing hardware architectures for the SCL decoding suffer from high hardware complexity due to calculating L decoding paths simultaneously,which are unfriendly to the devices with limited logical resources,such as field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs).In this paper,we propose a list-serial pipelined hardware architecture with low complexity for the SCL decoding,where the serial calculation and the pipelined operation are elegantly combined to strike a balance between the complexity and the latency.Moreover,we employ only one successive cancellation(SC)decoder core without L×L crossbars,and reduce the number of inputs of the metric sorter from 2L to L+2.Finally,the FPGA implementations show that the hardware resource consumption is significantly reduced with negligible decoding performance loss.

Quantized Decoders that Maximize Mutual Information for Polar Codes

In this paper,we innovatively associate the mutual information with the frame error rate(FER)performance and propose novel quantized decoders for polar codes.Based on the optimal quantizer of binary-input discrete memoryless channels(BDMCs),the proposed decoders quantize the virtual subchannels of polar codes to maximize mutual information(MMI)between source bits and quantized symbols.The nested structure of polar codes ensures that the MMI quantization can be implemented stage by stage.Simulation results show that the proposed MMI decoders with 4 quantization bits outperform the existing nonuniform quantized decoders that minimize mean-squared error(MMSE)with 4 quantization bits,and yield even better performance than uniform MMI quantized decoders with 5 quantization bits.Furthermore,the proposed 5-bit quantized MMI decoders approach the floating-point decoders with negligible performance loss.

A Golden Decade of Polar Codes:From Basic Principle to 5G Applications

After the pursuit of seventy years,the invention of polar codes indicates that we have found the first capacity-achieving coding with low complexity construction and decoding,which is the great breakthrough of the coding theory in the past two decades.In this survey,we retrospect the history of polar codes and summarize the advancement in the past ten years.First,the primary principle of channel polarization is investigated such that the basic construction,coding method and the classic successive cancellation(SC)decoding are reviewed.Second,in order to improve the performance of the finite code length,we introduce the guiding principle and conclude five design criteria for the construction,design and implementation of the polar code in the practical communication system based on the exemplar schemes in the literature.Especially,we explain the design principle behind the concatenated coding and rate matching of polar codes in 5G wireless system.Furthermore,the improved SC decoding algorithms,such as SC list(SCL)decoding and SC stack(SCS)decoding etc.,are investigated and compared.Finally,the research prospects of polar codes for the future 6G communication system are explored,including the optimization of short polar codes,coding construction in fading channels,polar coded modulation and HARQ,and the polar coded transmission,namely polar processing.Predictably,as a new coding methodology,polar codes will shine a light on communication theory and unveil a revolution in transmission technology.

Multiple CRC-aided variable successive cancellation list decoder of polar codes

In order to change the path candidates, reduce the average list size, and make more paths pass cyclic redundancy check （CRC）, multiple CRC-aided variable successive cancellation list （SCL） decoding algorithm is proposed. In the decoding algorithm, the whole unfrozen bits are divided into several parts and each part is concatenated with a corresponding CRC code, except the last part which is concatenated with a whole unfrozen CRC code. Each CRC detection is performed, and only those satisfying each part CRC become the path candidates. A variable list is setup for each part to reduce the time complexity. Variable list size is setup for each part to reduce the time complexity until one survival path in each part can pass its corresponding CRC. The results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce the average list size, and the frame error rate （FER） performance, and has a better performance with the increase of the part number.