Error detection in communication systems using polar coded data transmission

1. A method of decoding a polar coded signal, comprising:

determining channel reliabilities for a plurality of polar coded bit channels in a data communication system including a plurality of frozen bit channels and non-frozen bit channels;

selecting a frozen bit channel of the plurality of frozen bit channels;

calculating a likelihood value for a bit estimate associated with the frozen bit channel;

generating a hard decision value for the bit estimate in response to the likelihood value;

comparing the hard decision value for the bit estimate to a known value of a frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel;

in response to determining that the hard decision value for the bit estimate differs from the known value of the frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel, updating an accumulated uncertainty;

comparing the accumulated uncertainty to a threshold; and

determining that a decoding error has occurred in response to the comparison of the accumulated uncertainty to the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the likelihood value comprises a log likelihood ratio, LLR.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating steps of:

selecting a frozen bit channel of the plurality of frozen bit channels;

calculating a likelihood value for a bit estimate associated with the frozen bit channel;

generating a hard decision value for the bit estimate in response to the likelihood value;

comparing the hard decision value for the bit estimate to a known value of a frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel; and

in response to determining that the hard decision value for the bit estimate differs from the known value of the frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel, updating an accumulated uncertainty;

for each of a plurality of candidate decoding paths.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

discarding any candidate decoding path for which the accumulated uncertainty exceeds a predetermined threshold.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining any candidate decoding paths remain after discarding the candidate decoding paths that exceed the predetermined threshold; and

in response to determining that no candidate decoding paths remain, aborting a decoding procedure.

6. The method of any of claim 1 , wherein updating the accumulated uncertainty comprises updating the accumulated uncertainty based on a reliability of the selected frozen bit channel and the likelihood value for the bit estimate as follows:

Z p =Z p +f ( I i , |LLR p,i |)

where Z p may be the accumulated uncertainty, I i may be the reliability of the selected frozen bit channel and LLR p,i may be the likelihood value for the bit estimate,

wherein f(I i , |LLR p,i |) is one of:

equal to I i ,

equal to a constant,

equal to one,

given by f(I i , |LLR p,i |)=I i ·|LLR p,i |, or

given by f(I i , LLR p,i |)=|LLR p,i |.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to determining that the decoding error has occurred, one of:

aborting a decoding procedure, or

restarting the decoding procedure using a more powerful decoding algorithm.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frozen bit is a parity bit, the method further comprising:

generating an expected parity value of the frozen bit based on a previously decoded bit estimate; and

determining that a decoding error has occurred if [[the]] an estimated value of the frozen bit does not correspond to the expected parity value of the frozen bit.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising discarding a current decoding path in response to determining that the estimated value of the frozen bit does not correspond to the expected parity value of the frozen bit.

10. A communication comprising:

a processor;

a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to decode a polar coded signal by carrying out a method comprising:

determining channel reliabilities for a plurality of polar coded bit channels in a data communication system including a plurality of frozen bit channels and non-frozen bit channels;

selecting a frozen bit channel of the plurality of frozen bit channels;

calculating a likelihood value for a bit estimate associated with the frozen bit channel;

generating a hard decision value for the bit estimate in response to the likelihood value;

comparing the hard decision value for the bit estimate to a known value of a frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel;

in response to determining that the hard decision value for the bit estimate differs from the known value of the frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel, updating an accumulated uncertainty;

comparing the accumulated uncertainty to a threshold; and

determining that a decoding error has occurred in response to the comparison of the accumulated uncertainty to the threshold.

11. The communication device of claim 10 , wherein the likelihood value comprises a log likelihood ratio .LLR.

12. The communication device of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises repeating steps of:

selecting a frozen bit channel of the plurality of frozen bit channels;

calculating a likelihood value for a bit estimate associated with the frozen bit channel;

generating a hard decision value for the bit estimate in response to the likelihood value;

comparing the hard decision value for the bit estimate to a known value of a frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel; and

in response to determining that the hard decision value for the bit estimate differs from the known value of the frozen bit transmitted on the frozen bit channel, updating an accumulated uncertainty;

for each of a plurality of candidate decoding paths.

13. The communication device of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to determining that the decoding error has occurred, one of:

aborting a decoding procedure, or

restarting the decoding procedure using a more powerful decoding algorithm.

14. The communication device of claim 10 , wherein the frozen bit is a parity bit and the method further comprises:

generating an expected parity value of the frozen bit based on a previously decoded bit estimate;

determining that a decoding error has occurred if an estimated value of the frozen bit does not correspond to the expected parity value of the frozen bit.