LDPC Codes: An Introduction
Amin Shokrollahi · Birkhäuser Basel eBooks · 2004
LDPC codes are one of the hottest topics in coding theory today. Originally invented in the early 1960’s, they have experienced an amazing comeback in the last few years. Unlike many other classes of codes, LDPC codes are already equipped with very fast (probabilistic) encoding and decoding algorithms. The question is that of the design of the codes such that these algorithms can recover the original codeword in the face of large amounts of noise. New analytic and combinatorial tools make it possible to solve the design problem. This makes LDPC codes not only attractive from a theoretical point of view, but also perfect for practical applications. In this note I will give a brief overview of the origins of LDPC codes and the methods used for their analysis and design.