Minimal-Set Trellis Min-Max Decoder Architecture for Nonbinary LDPC Codes

Nonbinary low-density parity-check (NB-LDPC) codes offer a superior error correction capability compared to the existing binary counterparts. However, there exist two major disadvantages in NB-LDPC decoders that they require substantial hardware resources, particularly at the check node unit (CNU), and high latency in the decoding process. In this brief, a novel minimal-set trellis min-max (MS-TMM) algorithm for NB-LDPC decoders is proposed to reduce the complexity of the CNU and enhance the decoding throughput. The decoder architecture based on the proposed MS-TMM algorithm is implemented for the (837, 726) NB-LDPC code over Galois field GF(32) using 90-nm CMOS technology. The implementation results show that the proposed architecture offers a great reduction in hardware complexity and highest efficiency compared to the state-of-the-art works. Additionally, the proposed decoder architecture is able to achieve a throughput of 1.704 Gbps and 2.254 Gbps at eight and six iterations respectively, which is a considerable improvement compared to the previous works.