Concatenated FEC Architecture With Partial Decoding at Intermediate Nodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current forward error correction (FEC) systems in optical and wireless communications increase Net Effective Coding Gain (NECG) at the expense of hardware and system complexity, leading to higher costs, power consumption, and space requirements, especially in nodes with expressed traffic.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution functionally separates FEC codes into Inner FEC, operating on intermediate points, and Outer FEC, operating only at client ingress/egress points, allowing for partial decoding at intermediate points and full decoding at egress points without re-encoding, thereby reducing overall system complexity and power consumption while preserving NECG.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If concatenated FEC codes are used to increase NECG at each termination point, then coding gain is improved, but hardware complexity, power consumption, and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the concatenated FEC decoding process into two separate components: an inner FEC decoder and an outer FEC decoder. The inner decoder is deployed at intermediate network elements (OEO conversion points), while the outer decoder is deployed at end termination points. This segmentation allows each decoder to handle a portion of the error correction task, reducing the complexity burden on any single point in the network while maintaining the cumulative coding gain of the concatenated code structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate network elements (OEO conversion points) as mediators that perform partial decoding of the inner FEC code. These intermediaries relieve the end termination points from having to perform complete concatenated decoding, thereby reducing hardware complexity and power consumption at the termination points while still benefiting from the full concatenated FEC coding gain through the coordinated operation of inner and outer decoders.
2Reliability
If concatenated FEC codes are used to increase NECG, then coding gain is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the power-consuming FEC decoding operations across multiple network points. The inner FEC decoder at intermediate elements handles the more computationally intensive portion of decoding, while the outer FEC decoder at termination points handles a lighter portion. This distribution of computational workload reduces the peak power consumption at any single location and allows for more efficient use of energy across the entire network path.
Solution Approach 2:
Intermediate OEO conversion points act as power-management intermediaries by performing partial inner FEC decoding. This reduces the amount of decoding work that must be performed at end termination points, thereby reducing their power consumption. The intermediaries effectively split the power consumption burden, allowing the system to achieve the same overall coding gain with more efficient energy distribution.
3Reliability
If concatenated FEC codes are used to increase NECG, then coding gain is improved, but space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the FEC decoding functionality into separate inner and outer decoder units that can be deployed at different physical locations. The inner decoder is placed at intermediate network elements, while the outer decoder is placed at end termination points. This spatial segmentation allows the system to achieve full concatenated FEC coding gain without requiring all decoding components to be co-located at a single point, thereby reducing the space requirements at any individual location.
4Reliability
If full FEC decoding is performed at every intermediate point, then error correction is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different decoding functions to different locations in the network. Intermediate OEO conversion points perform only inner FEC decoding, while end termination points perform outer FEC decoding. This localized functional assignment optimizes error correction at each point according to its specific role in the network, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive error correction capability through the coordinated operation of different decoder types at different locations.
Data Source
AI summary
A concatenated Forward Error Correction (FEC) code method, at an intermediate point, includes receiving, from an ingress point, a signal that is fully encoded with a concatenated FEC code, wherein the concatenated FEC code includes at least an inner code and an outer code; partially decoding the signal by decoding the inner code at the intermediate point; and transmitting the partially decoded signal towards an egress point where the partially decoded signal is fully decoded.