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Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology ( New Series) , Vol.20, No.6, 2013

Efficient Early Termination Strategy for LDPC Codes in GPS Systems

Feng Wang, Jin⁃Hai Li, Jin⁃Hai Sun, Yue⁃Peng Yan


( Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China)

Abstract: By exploiting the structural features of L1C messages, a novel Early Termination ( ET) strategy is
proposed to speed up the decoding of low⁃density parity⁃check ( LDPC) codes in the GPS system. The proposed
strategy is based on the cyclic redundancy check ( CRC) of the messages in the subframes 2 and 3. The
simulation results show that average number of iterations of the proposed strategy is less than that of the standard
ET strategy, with nearly no degradation in decoding performance. Besides, the proposed ET strategy can be
efficiently implemented in a sequential or parallel manner. Thus, the proposed ET strategy is attractive for
practical purposes.
Keywords: GPS system, low⁃density parity⁃check ( LDPC) codes, early termination ( ET) strategy, cyclic
redundancy check ( CRC)
CLC number: TN911􀆰 22      Document code: A        Article ID: 1005⁃9113(2013)06⁃0118⁃05

are satisfied [6] , which is met if and only if the


1  Introduction decoding output is a valid codeword. As a result, this
strategy does not introduce any performance loss.
Low⁃density parity⁃check ( LDPC ) codes, Besides, several other typical ET strategies have been
originally introduced by Gallager [1-2] , are a class of proposed recently [10-12] . However, these ET strategies
linear block codes described by sparse parity⁃check are either too complicated to implement in practice or
matrices. Since their rediscovery in the middle of introduce certain performance losses.
1990s [3] , LDPC codes have received a lot of interests In this paper, the performances of both LDPC
due to their near⁃capacity error correction performance codes used in the GPS system are analyzed. By
with reasonable decoding complexity [4-5] . Moreover, in exploiting the structural features of subframes 2 and 3,
practice, an LDPC decoder can be flexibly a novel ET strategy for GPS LDPC codes is proposed.
implemented in fully or partially parallel manner [6-8] . The simulation results show that average number of
Consequentially, LDPC codes have been adopted in iterations of the proposed strategy is less than that of the
several modern communication standards for forward standard ET strategy, with nearly no decoding
error correction ( FEC) . performance losses. Moreover, the operations of the
In the next generation GPS system, LDPC codes proposed ET strategy can be efficiently implemented a
are used as FEC codes in the L1C message [9] . sequential or parallel manner using the shift register.
Specifically speaking, subframes 2 and 3 in the L1C All these merits suggest our proposed ET strategy is a
message are separately encoded with rate - 1 / 2 LDPC good choice for practical purposes.
codes of lengths 1200 and 548, respectively. The
LDPC decoding is an iterative process, and the process 2  Overview of LDPC Codes and Their Decoding
is stopped if the maximum number of iterations is
reached. In order to avoid unnecessary iterations, early 2􀆰 1  Overview of LDPC Codes
termination ( ET) strategy has been introduced [6] . For An LDPC code of length n is a kind of linear block
LDPC codes in the GPS system, this strategy is very code defined by an m × n sparse parity⁃check matrix
important, since the speedup of decoding process can H = [ h ji ] . If H is of full⁃rank, m is the number of
reduce the complexity and power consumption of a GPS redundant parity⁃check bits and n - m is the number of
receiver, which is especially crucial in the complex information bits. An LDPC code is said to be regular if
environment. all rows of H have the same weight and all columns of H
The most standard ET strategy is that all check also have the same weight. Otherwise, the code is said
equations defined by the rows of a parity⁃check matrix to be irregular.

Received 2013-05-08.
Sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( Grant No. 61271423) .
Corresponding author: Feng Wang. E⁃mail: wangfeng@ ime.ac.cn.

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Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology ( New Series) , Vol.20, No.6, 2013

    It is convenient to associate H with a bipartite 2􀆰 3  LDPC Decoding


graph ( called Tanner graph ) G H which has m check Based on the belief propagation principle, there
nodes and n bit nodes corresponding to the m rows and are two prevalent algorithms for decoding LDPC codes,
n columns of H, respectively. The j⁃th check node is the sum⁃product algorithm ( SPA ) and min⁃sum
connected to the i⁃th bit node if and only if the entry algorithm ( MSA ) [4,13] . The former has excellent
h ji = 1. Denoting the set of bits that participate in the decoding performance, whereas the latter has reduced
j⁃th check as N( j) = { i:h ji = 1} , and the set of checks complexity at the expense of certain degradation in
that the i⁃th bit participates as M( i) = { j:h ji = 1} . decoding performance. In order to improve the
2􀆰 2  LDPC Codes in the L1C Message performance of MSA while maintaining its low
Due to their excellent error correction complexity, the normalized min⁃sum algorithm
performance, LDPC codes are used in the next ( Normalized MSA) has been proposed [14] . With proper
generation GPS system [9] . As shown in Fig. 1 ( a ) , choice of modification factors, the performance of
subframes 2 and 3 in the L1C message are separately Normalized MSA is closed to that of the SPA, which
encoded using rate - 1 / 2 LDPC codes, respectively. makes it very suitable in practice.
Subframe 2 has a total of 600 bits, which consists It is assumed that a codeword x = [ x 1   x 2 …  x n ]
576 bits for Clock and Ephemeris message and 24 bits is transmitted over a binary input additive white
for cyclic redundancy check ( CRC) . Subframe 3 has a Gaussian noise ( AWGN ) channel by using binary⁃
total of 274 bits, which consists 250 bits for Variable phase shift⁃keying ( BPSK) modulation, and let y =
Data message and 24 bits for CRC. After LDPC [ y 1   y 2   …  y n ] be the received sequence. It is
encoding, there are 1200 bits for Subframe 2 and supposed that γ i is the log⁃likelihood ratio ( LLR) of
548 bits for Subframe 3. the i⁃th bit. Under the assumption of equal a prior
The LDPC codes are defined by two parity⁃check probability, p( x i = 0) = p( x i = 1) = 0􀆰 5, γ i is given by
matrices H( m,n) with m rows and n columns. For p( x i = 0 | y)
subframe 2, it holds that m = 600 and n = 1200. For γ i = ln (1)
p( x i = 1 | y)
subframe 3, it holds that m = 274 and n = 548.
    For the k⁃th iteration, let α (ji k) and β (ji k) be the
Moreover, both H( m,n) can be further decomposed
into 6 submatrices A, B, T, C, D, and E, as shown messages from the i⁃th variable node to the j⁃th check
in Fig.1( b) . The positions of entry 1s in each matrix node, and from the j⁃th check node to the i⁃th variable
and the encoding methods for the two codes are given node, respectively. The iterative process of Normalized
in Ref.[9] . It is worth mentioning that the two LDPC MSA is as follows [14] .
codes are both systematic: the first half part of a Initialization: For each pair ( i,j) , set α (0) ji
= γi.
codeword corresponds to information bits, and the rest Set k = 1.
part corresponds to parity⁃check bits. Step 1   For 1 ≤ j ≤ m and each i ∈ N( j) ,
compute
Subf
rame2 Subf
rame3 β (ji k) = α· ∏ sgnα (ji′k - 1) · min | α (ji′k - 1) | (2)
i′∈N( j) \ i i′∈N( j) \ i

where N( j) \ i contains all the elements in N( j)


excluding i, and α is a modification factor.
Cl
ock&Ephemer
is CRC Pa g
env a
ria
ble CRC
(
576bi
ts
) (
24bi
ts
) da
ta(
250bit
s) (
24bi
ts
)
Step 2   For 1 ≤ i ≤ n and each j ∈ M( i) ,
compute
γ^ (i k) = γ i + ∑ β (ji k) (3)
LDPCe
nco
de LDPCe
nco
de j∈M( i)
and
(4)
(1200bi ts) (548bits
)
( a) Structure of subframes 2 and 3 in the L1C message α (ji k) = γ^ (i k) - β (ji k)
nc olumns     Step 3  Perform hard decision
x^ ( k) = [ x 1( k) x 2( k) … x (n k) ]
(1200/5 48)

by
1, γ^ (i k) > 0
mc
(
ol
umns
600/
274)
A B T 599/
273 x (i k) = { 0, other
(5)
    Step 4  Set k = k + 1, go to Step 1.
C D E 1
The above iterative process continues until k =
600/
274 1 599/
273
K max , where K max is a preset maximum iterative number.
( b) Structure of parity⁃check matrix of GPS LDPC codes
In practice, the decoding process usually converges
Fig.1  Structure of subframes 2 and 3 and the structure of before K max is reached. In order to avoid unnecessary
parity⁃check matrix iterations and speedup the decoding, an early
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Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology ( New Series) , Vol.20, No.6, 2013

termination ( ET ) strategy is necessary. In the next [9] , one can find the following interesting property:
subsection, a brief review on ET strategies is the average degree of the information bit nodes is much
presented. larger than that of the redundant bit nodes, as shown in
2􀆰 4  Review on ET Strategies Table 1. ( Note that the degree of a bit node in G H is
The most standard ET strategy is that all check equal to the weight of the corresponding column in H.)
equations defined by the rows of H are satisfied [6] , Hence, the information bits are expected to converge
i.e., the equation more quickly on the average than the redundant bits,
x^ ( k) ·H = 0 (6) which can be verified by the following observations.
holds. In this case, x^ ( k) is output as the decoding
result. Since Eq.(6) holds if and only if x^ ( k) is a valid Table 1  Average degree of the information and redundant
codeword, the strategy does not introduce any decoding bit nodes of GPS LDPC codes
performance loss. However, this strategy may take Average degree number
Length
much hardware cost for the check equations in Information bit nodes Redundant bit nodes
practice [12] . 1200 5􀆰 96 2􀆰 07
In addition to this standard strategy, there are 548 5􀆰 43 2􀆰 13
some typical works on this topic [10-12] . In Ref. [ 10] ,
the decoding blocks are divided into decodable and 3􀆰 1  Convergence Behavior Observations
undecodable blocks, and an ET strategy is designed for In order to analyze the convergence behavior of
these two kinds of blocks, respectively. In Ref. [11] , LDPC decoding, the average magnitudes of APP
the ET strategy is presented based on the convergence messages in the iterative process are calculated for the
of the mean magnitude. Although these ET strategies information and redundant bit nodes, respectively, as
have little performance degradation, they require shown in Fig. 2. The test code is of length 1200 and
massive mathematical operations and statistical the signal⁃to⁃noise ratio ( SNR) is set as 2􀆰 0 dB. The
properties of the decoded messages. Hence, they are values are obtained over 1000 realizations.
not suitable for practical purposes. Recently, a strategy
suitable for practical implementation has been proposed
ges

by Shih et al. [12] The strategy is called hard⁃decision⁃


12
ssa

I
nformat
ionbi
ts
fAPPme

aided ( HDA) ET strategy, which compares the hard 10 Redundantbi


ts
decisions in the two successive iterations. If the two 8
hard decisions are same, the decoding process is
so
ude

6
terminated. This strategy is chosen for comparison in
t
ni

the simulations. 4
g
ema

2
g

3  Novel ET Strategy for GPS LDPC Codes


e
Avra

0 5 10 15

In this section, the convergence behavior of the I


ter
ati
onnumbe
r

decoding of GPS LDPC codes is analyzed. Based on the Fig.2  Average magnitudes of APP messages in the iterative
analysis, a novel ET strategy is proposed and its process
complexity is compared with Eq.(6) .
As discussed previously, the decoding of an     From Fig. 2, it is known that the average
LDPC code is an iterative message passing process. magnitude of APP messages of information bits
With the messages being passed and updated between increases faster and become more reliable than that of
check and bit nodes, the unreliable a prior messages is the redundant bits as the iteration number increases.
corrected and the reliable a posterior probabilities For example, the average magnitude of APP messages
( APP) messages is obtained. It is well known that the of information bits is about twice that of redundant bits
decoding process of an irregular LDPC code has wave after 15 iterations. As a consequence, the information
effect [5] : bit nodes with higher degree tend to correct bits tend to be corrected more quickly on the average
their value firstly and then provide good information to than the redundant bits. In other words, if all check
the check nodes, which subsequently provide better equations are satisfied, some decoding iterations are
information to lower degree bit nodes. As a result, bit used to correct the errors in the redundant bits, which
nodes with high degree tend to get corrected more is meaningless in practice. Consequently, if some
quickly than those with low degree. detect mechanism can be developed, the unnecessary
The two LDPC codes in GPS system are both iterations can be avoided to some extent.
irregular. By careful observation on the positions of 3􀆰 2  Proposed ET Strategy
entries 1 s of two parity⁃check matrices given in Ref. By exploiting the special structures of subframes 2
· 120·
Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology ( New Series) , Vol.20, No.6, 2013

and 3, an efficient ET strategy for GPS LDPC codes is used in the simulation is the Normalized MSA. The
developed in this subsection. modification factor is α = 0􀆰 75, and the maximum
As shown in Fig. 2, the LDPC encoding is iterative number K max is set as 15.
performed after the CRC for subframes 2 and 3. For Fig. 3 illustrates the bit error rate ( BER )
both subframes, the last 24 bits are the CRC word of performances of two LDPC codes on the AWGN
the previous message bits. The CRC word can detect channel. The performance of SPA is included for
the errors in the message bits. Conversely, if a comparison. Besides, the HDA ET strategy given in
temporary hard decision in the iterative process is subsection 2􀆰 4 is also evaluated. The BER of each
obtained, we can check CRC for the information bits. algorithm is calculated by
If CRC is satisfied, the message can be accepted as a NE
valid one and LDPC decoding can be stopped. BER = (7)

Therefore, the following ET strategy for decoding GPS where N E and N stand for the total number of error and
LDPC codes can be developed to replace the strategy simulated message bits, respectively.
given by Eq.(6) .
ET strategy: For the k⁃th iteration of LDPC 10-1
decoding, check CRC for the information bits. If CRC is
satisfied, stop decoding and output the hard decision x^ (k) . 10-2

It should be noted that there is no guarantee that 10-3

BER
the decoded and the transmitted information bits are the
same if the CRC is satisfied. However, the effectiveness
10-4 NMSA,
st
anda
rdET
NMSA,
pro
pos
edET
of the strategy can be shown by the simulation test in 10-5 NMS
SP
A
A,
HDAET
which a total of 106 decoding realizations that CRC is 10-6
satisfied are collected. Among these 106 realizations, no 1.
4 1.
6 1.8 2.0 2.
2 2.
4 2.
6
decoding error is found. Moreover, the effectiveness of
SNR(dB)

the strategy can also be demonstrated by the decoding ( a) Code length of 1200

performance, which will be presented in the next 10-1


section. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that our
proposed ET strategy has some advantages compared 10-2

with the standard ET strategy from the implementation 10-3


BER

point of view. For the standard ET strategy, the hard


decision results of each iteration must be distributed
10-4
NMSA,st
anda
rdET
from bit nodes to the destination check nodes to perform 10-5 NMSA,pr
opos
edET
NMSA,HDAET
parity check, which is done at the cost of extra 10-6
SPA
hardware complexity or the increasing of clock cycles 1.0 1.
5 2.0 2.
5 3.
0
per iteration. In contrast, our proposed ET strategy is SNR(dB)
performed in the bit nodes side, and the above⁃ ( b) Code length of 548
mentioned disadvantages can be avoided. Fig. 3   BER performances of LDPC codes in the GPS
3􀆰 3  CRC Implementation system
The main calculation of the proposed ET strategy
is the CRC, which is defined as the remainder resulted     It is known that the BER performance of the
from the division of the shifted message polynomial by a Normalized MSA is closed to that of the SPA. For
generator polynomial. The generator polynomial of CRC example, at BER of 10 -4 , the performance gap
in GPS system is of degree 24 [9] . Basically, the CRC between the Normalized MSA and SPA is within
calculation can be implemented in a bit⁃serial manner 0􀆰 2 dB for both codes. Besides, our proposed ET
by using the shift register. On the other hand, it is strategy introduces nearly no performance losses
known that parallel implementations of CRC can offer compared with the standard ET strategy such that all
better performance [15-16] . Hence, the proposed ET the parity⁃check equations are satisfied. In contrast,
strategy can be flexibly implemented in a GPS receiver although the operations in HDA ET strategy are very
according to the practical requirements. simple, it causes certain performance degradation,
especially in the high SNR region.
4  Simulation Results and Analyses Fig.4 illustrates the average number of iterations
of these three ET strategies for the two LDPC codes.
In order to testify the proposed ET strategy, the Besides, Table 2 lists the iteration number reduction of
simulations are performed to evaluate the performances the proposed ET strategy compared with the standard
of the two GPS LDPC codes. The decoding algorithm ET strategy.
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Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology ( New Series) , Vol.20, No.6, 2013

less than that of the standard ET strategy, especially in


ns
15

o
the high SNR situations. Moreover, the proposed ET
i
t
St
anda
rdET
ra Pr
opos
edET
strategy can be flexibly implemented in a sequential or
t
fie 13 HDAET
ro

parallel manner according to the different requirements.


enumbe

11
In conclusion, the proposed ET strategy is a good
9 choice for practical purposes.
rg
a

References
e
Av

1.
4 1.
6 1.8 2.0 2.
2 2.
4 2.
6
SNR(dB)
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[2] Gallager R G. Low⁃Density Parity⁃Check codes. Cambridge,
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ns

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io

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opos
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[ 13 ] Fossorier M P C, Mihaljevic M, Imai H. Reduced
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