November 1, 2004 9:00-12:00
A Whirlwind Tour of Channel Coding:
with Emphasis on Iterative Decoding by
Bernard Sklar

Abstract

Channel coding is an error-control technique used for providing robust data transmission
through imperfect channels by adding redundancy to the data.  There are two important classes of such coding methods – block codes and convolutional codes.  For this tutorial, we rapidly review the fundamentals of both classes by addressing:  how to generate particular codes, how to decode them, the advantage of non-binary codes (such as Reed-Solomon) in bursty noise, why soft-decisions are beneficial, and how they are readily implemented with Viterbi decoding of convolutional codes.  Owing to recent developments, soft-decision decoding is also important for block codes - which leads us to examine the astounding coding strides brought about in this decade.  These advances, which bring coding gain close to the theoretical limitation of what is possible, entail the use of iterative decoding techniques which we demonstrate by using turbo-code and low-density parity-check (LDPC) code examples.  The tutorial can serve as a precursor for students who intend to further pursue the subject, and a quick overview for experienced engineers who have not yet investigated this area.

Biography

Dr. Bernard Sklar has 50 years of electrical engineering experience at companies that include Hughes Aircraft, Litton Industries, and The Aerospace Corporation.  At Aerospace, he helped develop the MILSTAR satellite system, and was the principal architect for EHF Satellite Data Link Standards.  He is currently the Director of Advanced Systems at Communications Engineering Services, a company he founded in 1984.  He has taught engineering courses at several universities, including the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, and has presented numerous training programs throughout the world. 

Dr. Sklar has published and presented scores of technical papers.  He is the recipient of the 1984 Prize Paper Award from the IEEE Communications Society for his tutorial series on digital communications, and he is the author of the book, Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications, 2^nd Edition, Prentice‑Hall, 2001.  His academic credentials include a B.S. degree in Math and Science from the University of Michigan, an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, New York, and a Ph.D. degree in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.