A direct geometrical method for bounding the error exponent for any specific family of channel codes. I. Cutoff rate lower bound for block codes

A direct, general, and conceptually simple geometrical method for determining lower and upper bounds on the error exponent of any specific family of channel block codes is presented. It is considered that a specific family of codes is characterized by a unique distance distribution exponent. The tight linear lower bound of slope -1 on the code family error exponent represents the code family cutoff rate bound. It is always a minimum of a sum of three functions. The intrinsic asymptotic properties of channel block codes are revealed by analyzing these functions and their relationships. It is shown that the random coding technique for lower-bounding the channel error exponent is a special case of this general method. The requirements that a code family should meet in order to have a positive error exponent and at best attain the channel error exponent are stated in a clear way using the (direct) distance distribution method presented