Unrolled Polar Decoder Architecture for Multi-Length Low-Latency Decoding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing polar code decoders face limitations in supporting multiple code lengths and data rates, leading to low throughput and high latency in hardware implementations, particularly in modern wireless communication applications.
Innovation Solution
A fully-unrolled polar code decoder architecture that includes processing and memory elements connected in an unrolled configuration, with input and output multiplexers to selectively transmit bits between a master code and constituent codes, enabling decoding of polar encoded code words of varying lengths and rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If unrolled hardware architecture is used for polar decoding, then throughput is improved, but the decoder can only support fixed code length and rate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the decoder architecture configurable through control signals. The unrolled decoding resources can be dynamically allocated to different code lengths and rates by activating specific subsets of processing elements and memory elements based on the input code parameters, allowing the same hardware to adapt to multiple coding scenarios while maintaining high throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements universality by designing a unified unrolled decoder architecture that can decode multiple polar codes with different lengths and rates using the same processing and memory resources. By configuring which subsets of resources are activated and how they are connected through multiplexers, a single decoder can serve multiple coding standards and variants.
2Device complexity
If successive cancellation decoding is used, then decoding complexity is reduced, but latency increases due to bit-by-bit processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the polar code into multiple constituent codes that can be decoded in parallel. The unrolled architecture processes different segments of the code simultaneously through separate processing paths, reducing the overall decoding time while maintaining the low complexity of successive cancellation decoding for each segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-computing and storing decoding resources (processing elements and memory elements) in an unrolled configuration before actual decoding occurs. This preparation allows the decoder to immediately process multiple code segments in parallel without dynamic resource allocation during decoding, thereby reducing latency while keeping complexity manageable.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple code lengths and rates are supported, then adaptability to communication standards is improved, but hardware complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by combining multiple decoding paths for different code lengths and rates into a single unified unrolled architecture. Instead of implementing separate decoders for each code variant, the patent merges their functionality into one structure that shares processing and memory resources, controlled by configuration signals that activate the appropriate subsets of resources for each coding scenario.
Data Source
AI summary
There is described a multi-mode unrolled decoder. The decoder comprises a master code input configured to receive a polar encoded master code of length N carrying k information bits and N−k frozen bits, decoding resources comprising processing elements and memory elements connected in an unrolled architecture and defining an operation path between the master code input and an output, for decoding a polar encoded code word, at least one constituent code input configured to receive a polar encoded constituent code of length N/p carrying j information bits and N/p−j frozen bits, where p is a power of 2, and at least one input multiplexer provided in the operation path to selectively transmit N/p bits of one of the master code and the constituent code to a subset of the decoding resources.