Asymptotic BER EXIT chart analysis for high rate codes based on the parallel concatenation of analog RCM and digital LDGM codes

Abstract This paper proposes an extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart analysis and an asymptotic bit error rate (BER) prediction method to speed up the design of high rate RCM-LDGM hybrid codes over AWGN and fast Rayleigh channels. These codes are based on a parallel concatenation of a rate compatible modulation (RCM) code with a low-density generator matrix (LDGM) code. The decoder uses the iterative sum-product algorithm to exchange information between the variable nodes (VNs) and the two types of constituent check nodes: RCM-CN and LDGM-CN. The novelty of the proposed EXIT chart procedure lies on the fact that it mixes together the analog RCM check nodes with the digital LDGM check nodes, something not possible in previous multi-edge EXIT charts proposed in the literature