Simplified Path Split Strategy for SCL Decoding Algorithm with Lower Latency

This work focuses on further reducing the decoding latency of the successive cancellation list (SCL) algorithm for polar codes, considering the fact that some path splitting may be unnecessary if a bit is reliable during the transmission. Specifically, during the node-wise SCL decoding progress, only unreliable bits need to conduct path clone, leading to the reduction of the number of path splitting and the decoding latency. On this basis, this paper proposes an improved simplified SCL (SSCL) algorithm and an improved Fast-SCL (FSCL) algorithm, for low-latency polar decoding. Simulation results performed on a (4096, 2048) polar code show that the improved SSCL algorithm reduces the decoding latency by around 44.7% when L = 4, and by 62.8% when L = 8, respectively. Moreover, the improved FSCL algorithm achieves a reduction of decoding latency by about 37.3% when L = 8, for a (4096, 3840) polar code.