A Relaxed Half-Stochastic Iterative Decoder for LDPC Codes

This paper presents a Relaxed Half-Stochastic (RHS) low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoding algorithm that uses some elements of the sum-product algorithm (SPA) in its variable nodes, but maintains the low-complexity interleaver and check node structures characteristic of stochastic decoders. The algorithm relies on the principle of successive relaxation to convert binary stochastic streams to a log-likelihood ratio (LLR) representation. Simulations of a (2048, 1723) RS-LDPC code show that the RHS algorithm can outperform 100-iterations floating-point SPA decoding. We describe approaches for low-complexity implementation of the RHS algorithm. Furthermore, we show how the stochastic nature of the belief representation can be exploited to lower the error floor.