Row-merged polar codes are a family of pre-transformed polar codes (PTPCs) with little precoding overhead. Providing an improved distance spectrum over plain polar codes, they are capable to perform close to the finite-length capacity bounds. However, there is still a lack of efficient design procedures for row-merged polar codes. Using novel weight enumeration algorithms with low computational complexity, we propose a design methodology for row-merged polar codes that directly considers their minimum distance properties. The codes significantly outperform state-of-the-art cyclic redundancy check (CRC)-aided polar codes under successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding in error-correction performance. Furthermore, we present fast simplified successive cancellation list (Fast-SSCL) decoding of PTPCs, based on which we derive a high-throughput, unrolled architecture template for fully pipelined decoders. Implementation results of SCL decoders for row-merged polar codes in a 12nm technology additionally demonstrate the superiority of these codes with respect to the implementation costs, compared to state-of-the-art reference decoder implementations.
%0 Journal Article
%1 10608040
%A Zunker, Andreas
%A Geiselhart, Marvin
%A Johannsen, Lucas
%A Kestel, Claus
%A ten Brink, Stephan
%A Vogt, Timo
%A Wehn, Norbert
%D 2025
%J IEEE Transactions on Communications
%K myown coding
%N 1
%P 39-53
%R 10.1109/TCOMM.2024.3432688
%T Row-Merged Polar Codes: Analysis, Design, and Decoder Implementation
%V 73
%X Row-merged polar codes are a family of pre-transformed polar codes (PTPCs) with little precoding overhead. Providing an improved distance spectrum over plain polar codes, they are capable to perform close to the finite-length capacity bounds. However, there is still a lack of efficient design procedures for row-merged polar codes. Using novel weight enumeration algorithms with low computational complexity, we propose a design methodology for row-merged polar codes that directly considers their minimum distance properties. The codes significantly outperform state-of-the-art cyclic redundancy check (CRC)-aided polar codes under successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding in error-correction performance. Furthermore, we present fast simplified successive cancellation list (Fast-SSCL) decoding of PTPCs, based on which we derive a high-throughput, unrolled architecture template for fully pipelined decoders. Implementation results of SCL decoders for row-merged polar codes in a 12nm technology additionally demonstrate the superiority of these codes with respect to the implementation costs, compared to state-of-the-art reference decoder implementations.
@article{10608040,
abstract = {Row-merged polar codes are a family of pre-transformed polar codes (PTPCs) with little precoding overhead. Providing an improved distance spectrum over plain polar codes, they are capable to perform close to the finite-length capacity bounds. However, there is still a lack of efficient design procedures for row-merged polar codes. Using novel weight enumeration algorithms with low computational complexity, we propose a design methodology for row-merged polar codes that directly considers their minimum distance properties. The codes significantly outperform state-of-the-art cyclic redundancy check (CRC)-aided polar codes under successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding in error-correction performance. Furthermore, we present fast simplified successive cancellation list (Fast-SSCL) decoding of PTPCs, based on which we derive a high-throughput, unrolled architecture template for fully pipelined decoders. Implementation results of SCL decoders for row-merged polar codes in a 12nm technology additionally demonstrate the superiority of these codes with respect to the implementation costs, compared to state-of-the-art reference decoder implementations.},
added-at = {2025-05-06T13:51:09.000+0200},
author = {Zunker, Andreas and Geiselhart, Marvin and Johannsen, Lucas and Kestel, Claus and ten Brink, Stephan and Vogt, Timo and Wehn, Norbert},
biburl = {https://puma.ub.uni-stuttgart.de/bibtex/2431a23b580b6f34091d0c209bf2168db/inue},
description = {Row-Merged Polar Codes: Analysis, Design, and Decoder Implementation | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore},
doi = {10.1109/TCOMM.2024.3432688},
interhash = {9a67c8ffc810af63096c674f85ed70ad},
intrahash = {431a23b580b6f34091d0c209bf2168db},
issn = {1558-0857},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Communications},
keywords = {myown coding},
month = jan,
number = 1,
pages = {39-53},
timestamp = {2025-05-06T13:51:09.000+0200},
title = {Row-Merged Polar Codes: Analysis, Design, and Decoder Implementation},
volume = 73,
year = 2025
}