Performance Study on the Suitability of Reed Solomon Codes in WiMAX

R.Logeshwaran
Lecturer, Department of ECE Anand Institute of Higher Technology Chennai, India logesh.ieee@gmail.com
Abstract-- Error control codes are used to protect information from errors that can occur during transmission. Reed Solomon (RS) Code is one of the most important and best known classes of nonbinary Bose-Chaudhuri- Hocquenqhen (BCH) codes which are capable of correcting burst errors (C. Xu, 2007)[2]. RS code is a type of forward error correction (FEC) codes used in data transmission for real time applications. RS codes are proven to be effective in transmitting data in wireless channels. WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunication technology based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, which is also called Wireless MAN. This paper presents a complete specification of the Reed Solomon encoding and decoding algorithms with its implementations. The goal of this paper is to study and analyze the suitability of Reed Solomon code for WiMAX.

I.Joe Louis Paul

Asst. Professor, Department of IT SSN College of Engineering Chennai, India joelouisi@ssn.edu.in and low-latency entertainment applications. Though WiMAX offers higher data rate and multipath propagation to the end users, but it suffers to guarantee the QoS as the wireless channel is time-varying in nature and also prone to more noise than wired one. Hence there is a need of the hour to think about an extremely powerful error correction code which can provide critical error control with guaranteed QoS and also achieving an error free communication in WiMAX. Therefore, we choose the RS codes as the forward error correction scheme for WiMAX environment due to its burst error correcting nature. The organization of the paper is as follows: section II deals with the background and importance of using RS codes in WiMAX environment. The descriptions of the RS encoding and decoding algorithms are detailed in section III, followed by results and discussions in section IV. Finally, section V describes the conclusion and future work. II. BACKGROUND IEEE 802.16 is a standard that aims at the use of wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN). It is necessary to keep up the claimed QoS, data rate and bandwidth. Strong interference and noise in the wireless channel exploits the bandwidth usage and data rate for long distance communication in WiMAX. Channel coding is a powerful tool used in WiMAX physical layer to provide an error free reliable communication (C. Xu, 2007)[2]. Channel coding is a viable method to reduce information rate through the channel and increase reliability. This goal is achieved by selectively introducing redundant bits into the transmitted information stream resulting in a longer coded vector of symbols that are distinguishable at the output of the channel. These additional bits will allow detection and correction of bit errors in the received data stream and provide more reliable information transmission (A. Neubauer, 2007)[9]. Forward Error Correction (FEC) is proposed for efficiently utilizing the bandwidth where the receiver cannot send any message back to the transmitter. In telecommunication and information theory, forward error correction is a system of error control for data transmission, whereby the sender adds redundant data to its messages, also known as an error correction code. ICWCSC 2010X

Keywords---

Reed Solomon codes, Hocquenqhen, forward error correction, Interoperability for Microwave Access.

Bose-Chaudhuriand Worldwide

I. INTRODUCTION A. Broadband Wireless Access Broadband wireless is all about bringing the broadband experience to a wireless context, which offers users with certain unique benefits and also convenience. In this, mobile broadband offers the additional functionality of portability, nomadic city and mobility. Mobile broadband attempts to provide broadband applications to the end user with new experience scenarios which can offer a very different value proposition. And hence, WiMAX (Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access) described in IEEE 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) standard is designed to accommodate both fixed and mobile broadband applications (Rober, 2008)[1]. Broadband access not only provides faster Web surfing and quicker file downloads but also enables several multimedia applications, such as real time audio and video streaming, multimedia conferencing, and interactive gaming (J.Chen, 2006)[8]. WiMAX as an overlay solution to provide even higher data rates in targeted urban centers or metro zones. WiMAX to offer differentiated personal broadband services, such as mobile entertainment. The flexible channel bandwidths and multiple levels of quality-of-service (QoS) support may allow WiMAX to be used by service providers for differentiated high-bandwidth 978-1-4244-5137-1/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE

This allows the receiver to detect and correct errors (within some bound) without the need to ask the sender for additional data. The advantage of forward error correction is that a back-channel is not required, or that retransmission of data can often be avoided, at the cost of higher bandwidth requirements on average. FEC is therefore applied in situations where retransmissions are relatively costly or impossible. In particular, FEC information is usually added to most mass storage devices to protect against damage to the stored data (L. Biard, 2008)[4]. Following are some of the various types of channel codes that use FEC technique - Linear Block Codes (LBC) - Convolutional Codes (CC) - Turbo Codes (TC) - Bose-Chadhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes - Reed Solomon codes (RS) codes Reed Solomon codes for WiMAX Due to the fading nature of the wireless channel, the errors usually occur in busty manner. But, most of the existing channel codes are not good enough to correct the burst errors. As most of the errors in real time traffic in wireless environment are bust in nature and RS codes are found to be most efficient in correcting burst errors (Masakawa, 2007)[6]. RS codes impose a greater bandwidth overhead than backward error correction protocols, but are able to recover from errors more quickly and with significantly fewer retransmissions (W. Jin, 2008)[5]. III. RS CODES Reed Solomon (RS) codes are nonbinary codes; that is we can describe them in terms of symbols rather than bits. That is, RS codes can achieve very large minimum distance. Hence, RS codes are used for correcting burst errors in communication medium, it doesnt mean that RS codes will correct only evenly spaced errors. RS codes can also correct randomly occurring errors found wide ranging applications throughout the fields of digital communication and storage. RS codes are systematic linear block codes specified as RS (n, k), with m bit symbols. This means that the encoder takes k data symbols of m bits each, appends n - k parity symbols, and produces a code word of n symbols (each of m bits) from the field GF (2n). The maximum block length n is equal to 2n-1 symbols for classical RS codes (or 2n symbols for singly extended RS codes). Often, the symbol size is taken to be 8 bits (m = 8) so that n will be 255 (or 256 for singly extended RS codes) [3]-[6]. A. Description of RS Encoding Algorithm

stages. Therefore we multiply m(X) by Xn-k, thereby manipulating the message polynomial algebraically so that it is right-shifted n - k positions. Next, we divide Xn-k m(X) by the generator polynomial g(X), which is written in the following form: X n - k m(X) = q(X) g(X) + p(X) where q(X) and p(X) are quotient and remainder polynomials, respectively. As in the binary case, the remainder is the parity. It can also be expressed as follows: p(X) = X n - k m(X) modulo g(X) The resulting codeword polynomial, U(X) can be written as U(X) = p(X) + X n-k m(X) Hence the resulting codeword U(X) is transmitted in the wireless channel. B. Description of RS Decoding Algorithm

The Reed Solomon decoder tries to correct errors and/or erasures by calculating the syndromes for each codeword. Based upon the syndromes the decoder is able to determine the number of errors in the received block. If there are errors present, the decoder tries to find the locations of the errors using the Berlekamp-Massey algorithm by creating an error locator polynomial. The roots of this polynomial are found using the Chien search algorithm. Using Forney's algorithm, the symbol error values are found and corrected. For an RS (n, k) code where n-k = 2t, the decoder can correct up to t symbol errors in the code word.Steps involved in decoding of RS codes are (Sklar, 2001)[10] 1. Syndrome Computation (S1,S2,..,S2t)

Let the transmitted code be u(X)= u0+u1X+..+un-1Xn-1 Let the received code be r(X)=r0+r1X+..+rn-1Xn-1 Syndrome is the result of parity check performed on the r(X) to determine whether r(X) is a valid member of codeword polynomial Error pattern e(X)=r(x)-u(X) hence e(x)=ej1Xj1+ej2Xj2++ejvXjv here ej1,ej2ejv are error values and Xj1,Xj2,.Xjv are error location The computation of syndrome symbol can be described as Si=r(X)X=i = r(i) i=1, , n-k r(X) = U(X) + e(X), then r(X) evaluated at each of the roots of g(X ) should yield zero only when it is a valid codeword. Any errors will result in one or more of the computations yielding a nonzero result. 2. Determining the Error Locator Polynomial Berlekamp Iterative Algorithm Many algorithms like Peterson-Gorenstein-Zierler are used for finding error locator polynomial for non-binary codes decoding. But they are all uses matrix-inversion methods for solving nonlinear equations, but it is inefficient. Berlekamp algorithm is fast and efficient algorithm for

Since RS codes are cyclic codes, encoding in systematic form is analogous to the binary encoding procedure. We can think of shifting a message polynomial, m(X), into the rightmost k stages of a codeword register and then appending a parity polynomial p(X), by placing it in the leftmost n - k

decoding non-binary codes. Like other algorithms it also uses Newton's nonlinear equations for finding the error locator polynomial. It uses iterative technique to find error location polynomial whose coefficients satisfy Newtons identities,
S v + 1 + 1 S v + 2 S v 1 + ... + v S 1 = 0 S v + 2 + 1 S v + 1 + 2 S v + ... + v S 2 = 0 . . S 2 t + 1 S 2 t 1 + 2 S 2 t 2 + .. + v S 2 t v = 0

4.

Determining the Error Value Forney's Algorithm

The error location polynomial can be defined as

( X ) = (1 + 1 X )(1 + 2 X )...( 1 + v X )
(X ) = 1+ 1X + 2X
2

+ ... + v X

Its roots are 1/1,1/2,..,1/v and the reciprocal of this will give the error location number. Initial conditions for Berlekamp algorithm i -1 0 i(x) 1 1 ri 0 0 ni -1 0 di 1 S1

To find the error values at the error location we have to find the error value polynomial first. And this is given by (x)=1+1x+2x2++x where 1=S1+1 2=S2+1S1+2 : =S+1S-1+2S-2++ After finding the error value polynomial we have to find the error magnitude Yj and it is given by ej=(Xj-1)/(1+Xj-1X1)(1+Xj-1X2)(1+Xj-1X) then the error polynomial is given by e(X)=e1X1+e2X2++eX The exact message is retrieved from the difference between the received polynomial and the error polynomial. IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The Reed Solomon encoder and decoder are simulated and the results are obtained as given in Table 1. It is found that the standard version of RS codes such as RS(255,223,8) and RS(255,239,8) having less latency are giving good error correcting performance than the lower level codes and also with optimal delay as given in Fig.1. Hence, we prefer the RS code versions of RS(255,223,8) and RS(255,239,8) for WiMAX environment.
Table 1: Latency Measurement of RS code for Different Values of n, k, m with its error correcting capabilities

Step-1: If di=0, Take (i)(x) as the next polynomial and so (i+1)(x)=(i)(x) ri+1=ri Go to Step-3. Step-2: If di0, Find a previous polynomial (k)(x) such that nk has the largest value and dk0. Then

( i +1) ( x) = ( i ) ( x ) +
ri +1 = max(ri , i nk )

xi di k x dk

k ( x)

Sl.No. 1 2 3 4 5

Step-3: The polynomial is checked to see if its coefficients are consistent with the next Newtons identity, so determine

Error code RS Code with rate in % correction different values (t) (r) (7,3,3) 42 2 (15,9,4) (255,223,8) (255,239,8) (255,223,17) 60 87 93 87 3 16 8 16

Delay (ms) 0.014 0.023 0.048 0.043 0.053

S
3.

i+2

( i +1) 1) = 1(i +1) Si +1 + 2 Si + ... + r(ii++ Si + 2 ri+1 1

And the discrepancy di+1=Si+2+i+2 along with ni+1=i+1-ri+1 Determining the Error Location Number Chiens Search Algorithm From the error location polynomial we can find the roots. Then the roots of (X) are the reciprocal of error location number Xj. We determine these roots by exhaustive testing of the (X) polynomial with each of the field elements. Any element X that yields (X) = 0 is a root and its reciprocal will be the location of error.

In RS (7, 3, 3) codes different number of symbols were sent and errors were introduced in different bits and the decoder latency is calculated. From the Table 2 it is found that the decoder latency remains constant for a variable number of errors with constant number of encoded symbols and decoded symbols. Hence the Reed Solomon codes will be efficient and optimal for robust and real time communication where the errors should not degrade the performance of wireless channels.

Latency Vs Code-Rate
100 90 80 70 Code-Rate 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 Latency 3 x10^-2 ms 4 5

makes the RS code suitable for future 3G and 4G technologies.

REFERENCES

[1] [2]

[3]

[4] [5]

Fig.1: Latency vs. Code-Rate

Also from the Table 2 it is inferred that even when the errors in the received symbols increases, the decoder can able to correct the errors with constant delay and less BER (Bit Error Rate). Hence Reed Solomon codes are efficient in correcting errors with less BER while using in long distance wireless channels where the signal quality is weak, extremely noisy and more distorted.
Table 2: Errors vs. Decoder Latency

[6]

[7]
Decoder Latency (ms)

Sl. No.

No. of Encoded Symbols

70

140

175

210

No. of bits in Error 12 24 36 48 12 24 36 48 12 24 36 48 12 24 36 48

No. of Decoded Symbol

[8]

70

0.054945 [9]

140

0.109890 [10] [11] [12] [13]

175

0.164835

Rober J. and Chen K. (2008), Mobile Wi-Max, Springer, John Wiley publications. C. Xu(2007), Soft Decoding Algorithm for RS-CC Concatenated Codes in WiMAX System, IEEE 65th Conference on Vehicular Technology VTC 2007, pp. 740-742. Freitag J. and Nelson L. S. (2007), WiMAX module for the NS-2 Simulator, Proc.Of the 18th annual IEEE International Symposium on personal, Indoor and mobile Radio communications (PIMRC07). L. Biard and D. Noguet (2008), Reed Solomon Codes for Low Power Communication, Journal of Communications, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 13-21. W. Jin and M. Fossorier (2008), Towards Maximum Likelihood Soft Decision Decoding of the (255,239) Reed Solomon Code, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 423 428 . Masakawa and T. Ochiai (2007), Design of ReedSolomon Codes for OFDM Systems with Clipping and Filtering, IEEE Conference on Wireless Communications and Networking, WCNC 2007, pp. 1361-1366. Schmidt, G. Huppert and C. Bossert, M. (2005) , Multitrial decoding of concatenated Reed-Solomon codes, Proceedings of International Symposium on Information Theory, ISIT 2005 pp. 2241-2245. J. Chen, C. C. Wang, F. Chee-Da, Chiang-Wei, S. S Liu, J. Guo, W.J. Lien, J. H. Sum, and C. H. Hung (2006), The Design and Implementation of WiMAX Module for ns-2 Simulator, ACM Value tools, Pisa. Italy. A. Neubauer, J. Freudenberg, V. Kuhn (2007), Coding Theory Algorithms, Architectures and Applications, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Bernard Sklar (2001), Digital Communication Fundamentals and Applications, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall Inc. http://nile.wpi.edu/NS/ http://www.isi.edu/nsnam http://ndsl.csie.cgu.edu.tw/wimax_ns2.php

210

0.219780

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK In this work, we simulated the RS encoder and decoder modules. In future we intend to modify the Reed Solomon decoding algorithm for achieving the efficient bit error rate and efficient utilization of bandwidth with less latency which