A High-Speed Fully-Programmable VLSI Decoder for Regular LDPC Codes

This paper presents a VLSI implementation of a low-density parity check (LDPC) decoder that achieves 2.4 Gbps throughput yet permits real-time configuration of (1) rate, (2) code length, and (3) the parity equations. This decoder can be programmed in the field, much like an FPGA. We describe the architectural, circuit-level and layout-level details of our implementation. Our design can handle variable rate codes of length up to 1024, and is implemented in a 0.1 mum VLSI fabrication process. Our design has a die size of 12 mm by 8 mm and a power consumption of 7 W. This implementation can be extended to handle longer codes in a partially parallel manner, and allow for on-the-fly modification of the code