Iterative decoding of generalized low-density parity-check codes

Abstract

A generalization of Gallager's low-density parity-check codes is introduced, where as component codes single-error correcting Hamming codes are used instead of single-error detecting parity-check codes. Low-density (LD) parity-check codes were first introduced by Gallager in 1963. These codes are, in combination with iterative decoding, very promising for achieving low error probabilities at a reasonable cost. Results of computer simulations for long LD codes show, that a performance close to the Shannon capacity limit can be achieved. In this work, we consider a generalized version of low-density parity-check codes, where the decoding procedure can be based on the decoding of Hamming component codes