Nonbinary Hybrid LDPC Codes

In this paper, a new class of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, named hybrid LDPC codes, is introduced. Hybrid LDPC codes are characterized by an irregular connectivity profile and heterogeneous orders of the symbols in the codeword. It is shown in particular that the class of hybrid LDPC codes can be asymptotically characterized and optimized using density evolution (DE) framework, and a technique to maximize the minimum distance of the code is presented. Numerical assessment of hybrid LDPC code performances is provided, by comparing them to protograph-based and multiedge-type (MET) LDPC codes. Hybrid LDPC codes are shown to allow to achieve an interesting tradeoff between good error-floor performance and good waterfall region with nonbinary coding techniques.