Non-Binary LDPC Decoder Based on Symbol Flipping with Multiple Votes

In this letter, a new algorithm to decode non-binary LDPC (NB-LDPC) codes is proposed. This algorithm is inspired from very low complexity decoders that have been proposed recently, in which only syndrome computations at the check node update are used, while performing symbol-flipping based update at the variable node. Usually, the low complexity decoders based on symbol flipping suffer from a non-negligible performance degradation compared to soft-decision NB-LDPC decoders. Our improved decoder makes use of a list of syndrome computations instead of a single one based on hard-decision, and builds soft information at the variable node input by assigning votes weighted by different amplitudes. Simulations show that using multiple votes with multiple weights yields better performance, while still maintaining the low complexity feature.