Approaching blokh-zyablov error exponent with linear-time encodable/decodable codes

Guruswami and Indyk showed in [1] that Forney´s error exponent can be achieved with linear coding complexity over binary symmetric channels. This paper extends this conclusion to general discrete-time memoryless channels and shows that Forney´s and Blokh-Zyablov error exponents can be arbitrarily approached by one-level and multi-level concatenated codes with linear encoding/decoding complexity. The key result is a revision to Forney´s general minimum distance decoding algorithm, which enables a low complexity integration of Guruswami-Indyk´s outer codes into the concatenated coding schemes.