Free-Space Optical Transport Data Encoding for Deep-Fading Reliability

The patent applies preliminary action by performing forward error correction encoding before transmission to preemptively protect against channel errors. The LDPC encoder processes the encoded symbols in advance, generating redundant information that will be used to correct errors during reception without requiring retransmission.

The patent implements beforehand cushioning by adding redundancy through nb/mb encoding and LDPC encoding. This creates a buffer against errors by embedding additional information that can compensate for signal degradation and corruption during transmission through deep fading environments.

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the error correction process into distinct stages: first nb/mb encoding to map n-bit words to m-bit symbols, then LDPC encoding on the encoded symbols, and finally separate decoding stages. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and processed in manageable steps.

The patent implements local quality by assigning different reliability metrics to different bits based on their individual characteristics. The system evaluates the reliability of each received bit separately using log-likelihood ratios, allowing the decoder to focus computational resources on correcting the most uncertain bits while accepting well-received bits with minimal processing.