On Flexible Design and Implementation of Structured LDPC Codes

In this paper we address the problem of flexibility of LDPC decoders in terms of coding rates. The paper introduces a code construction based on structured LDPC codes. The design of the code is performed in close relation with a targeted architecture in order to facilitate implementation at later stage. The proposed solution is based on the transformation of the parity check matrix resulting in a generic representation. This new representation can be used for different codes with distinct coding rates. This concept is illustrated through an example: a multiple-rate decoder is implemented on an hardware prototype and performance results are provided.