Higher-order Interpretations of Deepcode, a Learned Feedback Code

We present an interpretation of Deepcode, a learned feedback code that showcases higher-order error correction relative to an earlier interpretable model [1]. By interpretation, we mean succinct analytical encoder and decoder expressions (albeit with learned parameters) in which the role of feedback in achieving error correction is easy to understand. By higher-order, we mean that longer sequences of large noise values are acted upon by the encoder (which has access to these through the feedback) and used in error correction at the decoder in a two-stage decoding process.¹¹This work was supported by NSF under awards 1900911, 2217023, and 2240532, and by the AI National Laboratory Program (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00004). The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.