Fast Successive-Cancellation Decoding of 5G Parity-Check Polar Codes

The successive-cancellation (SC) decoding of polar codes suffers from long latency due to its serial processing nature. The fast SC (FSC) decoding was proposed to address this issue by applying parallel decoders to various special nodes in the binary decoding tree. In this letter, we explore multiple special nodes containing parity-check bits of 5G polar codes. The characteristics of these nodes are well investigated. The corresponding fast decoders are developed, which significantly reduce the decoding latency without degrading the error-correction performance.

Automated summary

This study proposes a fast SC (FSC) decoding method to reduce the latency of polar code decoding by applying parallel decoders to specific nodes in the binary decoding tree. The study also explores multiple special nodes of 5G polar codes, investigates their characteristics, and develops corresponding fast decoders that significantly reduce decoding latency without degrading error-correction performance.