Design of low-rate irregular LDPC codes using trellis search

A simple design method using trellis search is proposed for good low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with relatively low code rates. By applying a trellis search technique to the design of a pre-assigned part of the parity-check matrix that allows a simple encoding, we improve the distribution of cycles formed by the entries contained in the parity-check part of the parity-check matrix. In addition, we extend the proposed algorithm to a class of structured LDPC codes, which have been recently preferred in many practical applications. Simulation results show that the codes designed by the proposed method outperform those constructed by conventionally used greedy design algorithms.