Unitary Space Time Constellation Analysis: An Upper Bound for the Diversity

The diversity product and the diversity sum are two very important parameters for a good-performing unitary space time constellation. A basic question is what the maximal diversity product (or sum) is. In this paper we are going to derive general upper bounds on the diversity sum and the diversity product for unitary constellations of any dimension $n$ and any size $m$ using packing techniques on the compact Lie group U(n).Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, submitted to IEEE trans. inf

A decoding algorithm for Twisted Gabidulin codes

In this work, we modify the decoding algorithm for subspace codes by Koetter and Kschischang to get a decoding algorithm for (generalized) twisted Gabidulin codes. The decoding algorithm we present applies to cases where the code is linear over the base field $\mathbb{F}_q$ but not linear over $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$.Comment: This paper was submitted to ISIT 201

Coding Solutions for the Secure Biometric Storage Problem

The paper studies the problem of securely storing biometric passwords, such as fingerprints and irises. With the help of coding theory Juels and Wattenberg derived in 1999 a scheme where similar input strings will be accepted as the same biometric. In the same time nothing could be learned from the stored data. They called their scheme a "fuzzy commitment scheme". In this paper we will revisit the solution of Juels and Wattenberg and we will provide answers to two important questions: What type of error-correcting codes should be used and what happens if biometric templates are not uniformly distributed, i.e. the biometric data come with redundancy. Answering the first question will lead us to the search for low-rate large-minimum distance error-correcting codes which come with efficient decoding algorithms up to the designed distance. In order to answer the second question we relate the rate required with a quantity connected to the "entropy" of the string, trying to estimate a sort of "capacity", if we want to see a flavor of the converse of Shannon's noisy coding theorem. Finally we deal with side-problems arising in a practical implementation and we propose a possible solution to the main one that seems to have so far prevented real life applications of the fuzzy scheme, as far as we know.Comment: the final version appeared in Proceedings Information Theory Workshop (ITW) 2010, IEEE copyrigh

Decoding of Convolutional Codes over the Erasure Channel

In this paper we study the decoding capabilities of convolutional codes over the erasure channel. Of special interest will be maximum distance profile (MDP) convolutional codes. These are codes which have a maximum possible column distance increase. We show how this strong minimum distance condition of MDP convolutional codes help us to solve error situations that maximum distance separable (MDS) block codes fail to solve. Towards this goal, we define two subclasses of MDP codes: reverse-MDP convolutional codes and complete-MDP convolutional codes. Reverse-MDP codes have the capability to recover a maximum number of erasures using an algorithm which runs backward in time. Complete-MDP convolutional codes are both MDP and reverse-MDP codes. They are capable to recover the state of the decoder under the mildest condition. We show that complete-MDP convolutional codes perform in certain sense better than MDS block codes of the same rate over the erasure channel.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, to appear on IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Tree-Based Construction of LDPC Codes Having Good Pseudocodeword Weights

We present a tree-based construction of LDPC codes that have minimum pseudocodeword weight equal to or almost equal to the minimum distance, and perform well with iterative decoding. The construction involves enumerating a $d$-regular tree for a fixed number of layers and employing a connection algorithm based on permutations or mutually orthogonal Latin squares to close the tree. Methods are presented for degrees $d=p^s$ and $d = p^s+1$, for $p$ a prime. One class corresponds to the well-known finite-geometry and finite generalized quadrangle LDPC codes; the other codes presented are new. We also present some bounds on pseudocodeword weight for $p$-ary LDPC codes. Treating these codes as $p$-ary LDPC codes rather than binary LDPC codes improves their rates, minimum distances, and pseudocodeword weights, thereby giving a new importance to the finite geometry LDPC codes where $p > 2$.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Information Theory. Submitted: Oct. 1, 2005; Revised: May 1, 2006, Nov. 25, 200

Efficient evaluation of polynomials over finite fields

A method is described which allows to evaluate efficiently a polynomial in a (possibly trivial) extension of the finite field of its coefficients. Its complexity is shown to be lower than that of standard techniques when the degree of the polynomial is large with respect to the base field. Applications to the syndrome computation in the decoding of cyclic codes, Reed-Solomon codes in particular, are highlighted.Comment: presented at AusCTW 201

A Polynomial Description of the Rijndael Advanced Encryption Standard

The paper gives a polynomial description of the Rijndael Advanced Encryption Standard recently adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Special attention is given to the structure of the S-Box.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

A Numerical Approach for Designing Unitary Space Time Codes with Large Diversity

A numerical approach to design unitary constellation for any dimension and any transmission rate under non-coherent Rayleigh flat fading channel.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figure