A 21.66 Gbps Nonbinary LDPC Decoder for High-Speed Communications

Compared to binary Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes, nonbinary LDPC (NB-LDPC) codes have better error correction performance under short-to-moderate block lengths or high-order modulations. Traditional min-sum-based soft decoding algorithms for NB-LDPC codes suffer from large computational complexity, which leads to inefficient hardware implementations. The Multiple-symbol-reliability weighted Bit-Reliability-Based (MwBRB) hard decoding algorithm achieves a good tradeoff between error correction performance and decoding complexity. However, efficient hardware implementations based on the MwBRB algorithm have not been investigated. In this brief, an improved layered MwBRB algorithm is first proposed, which results in faster convergence rate than the MwBRB algorithm. Then, an ultra-high-throughput low-complexity decoder architecture with an efficient partially parallel processing schedule is also presented. Finally, the proposed architecture is coded with RTL and synthesized under the TSMC 90-nm CMOS technology. The synthesis results demonstrate that the proposed decoder for a (837, 726) quasi-cyclic NB-LDPC code over GF(2
⁵
) achieves a throughput of 21.66 Gbps and an area efficiency of 4.77 Gbps/M-gates under the TSMC 90-nm CMOS technology. The proposed decoder reaches a throughput more than 20 Gbps for the first time among the prior NB-LDPC decoders, and the area efficiency is far beyond the state-of-the-art designs.