Decoding Generalized Concatenated Codes Using Interleaved Reed-Solomon Codes

摘要

Generalized Concatenated codes are a code construction consisting of a numberof outer codes whose code symbols are protected by an inner code. As outercodes, we assume the most frequently used Reed-Solomon codes; as inner code, weassume some linear block code which can be decoded up to half its minimumdistance. Decoding up to half the minimum distance of Generalized Concatenatedcodes is classically achieved by the Blokh-Zyablov-Dumer algorithm, whichiteratively decodes by first using the inner decoder to get an estimate of theouter code words and then using an outer error/erasure decoder with a varyingnumber of erasures determined by a set of pre-calculated thresholds. In thispaper, a modified version of the Blokh-Zyablov-Dumer algorithm is proposed,which exploits the fact that a number of outer Reed-Solomon codes with averageminimum distance d can be grouped into one single Interleaved Reed-Solomon codewhich can be decoded beyond d/2. This allows to skip a number of decodingiterations on the one hand and to reduce the complexity of each decodingiteration significantly - while maintaining the decoding performance - on theother.