A Scaling Law to Predict the Finite-Length Performance of Spatially-Coupled LDPC Codes Articles uri icon

publication date

  • June 2015

start page

  • 3164

end page

  • 3184

issue

  • 6

volume

  • 61

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0018-9448

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1557-9654

abstract

  • Spatially-coupled low-density parity-check (SC-LDPC) codes are known to have excellent asymptotic properties. Much less is known regarding their finite-length performance. We propose a scaling law to predict the error probability of finite-length spatially coupled code ensembles when transmission takes place over the binary erasure channel. We discuss how the parameters of the scaling law are connected to fundamental quantities appearing in the asymptotic analysis of these ensembles and we verify that the predictions of the scaling law fit well to the data derived from simulations over a wide range of parameters. The ultimate goal of this line of research is to develop analytic tools for the design of SC-LDPC codes under practical constraints.