Collaborative Research: Energy-efficient communication with optimized ECC decoders: Connecting Algorithms and Implementations

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Integrative, Hybrid and Complex Systems Vladimir M. Stojanovic, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Aleksandar Kavcic, University of Hawaii Collaborative Research: Energy-efficient Communication with Optimized ECC Decoders: Connecting Algorithms and Implementations Intellectual Merit: In a classical unidirectional communication system, the transmitter and the receiver functions are optimized separately. Recently, bidirectional, power-constrained communication systems have emerged, such as for wireless mobile devices and high-speed interconnections within digital systems, where both the transmitter and the receiver draw power from the same supply and where their joint power consumption affects the data rate and the energy-efficiency of the whole system. Thus, the transmitter and the receiver need to be jointly optimized. This research pursues a strategy to jointly optimize severely power-constrained communication systems to achieve a balance between speed (data rate), performance (in terms of error rate), and power consumption. The strategy uses special families of decoders of error correction codes (ECCs) that allow tradeoffs in complexity and power consumption for performance. The research considers the entire engineering design, from theoretical inception to very large-scale integration (VLSI) implementation, including the feedback loop from the VLSI design layer to the algorithm development layer. Broader Impact: This research has the potential to reduce power consumption in wireless mobile communication, where battery life is critical, through an integrative approach. Results of this research will be incorporated into a communication system design course at MIT. Course material will be made freely available through MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) website. Similar course improvements are planned at the University of Hawaii.