Near-Capacity Iteratively Decoded Binary Self-Concatenated Code Design Using EXIT Charts

In this treatise extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts are used to design binary self-concatenated convolutional codes employing iterative decoding (SECCC-ID) for communicating over both uncorrelated Rayleigh fading and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. Recursive Systematic Convolutional (RSC) codes are selected as constituent codes, an interleaver is used for randomising the extrinsic information exchange of the constituent codes, while a puncturer assists us in increasing the achievable bandwidth efficiency. At the receiver, self-iterative decoding is invoked for exchanging extrinsic information between the hypothetical decoder components. The convergence behaviour of the decoder is analysed with the aid of bit-based EXIT charts. Finally, we propose an attractive system configuration, which is capable of operating within about 1 dB of the information-theoretic limits.