Energy optimization of quantized min-sum decoders for protograph-based LDPC codes

This paper considers protograph-based LDPC codes, and proposes an optimization method to select protographs that minimize the energy consumption of quantized min-sum decoders. This method first estimates the average number of iterations required by the decoder, and includes this estimate into two high-level models that evaluate the decoder energy consumption. The optimization problem is then formulated as minimizing the energy consumption of the decoder while satisfying a performance criterion on the frame error rate. Finally, an optimization algorithm based on differential evolution is introduced. Protograph optimized for energy consumption shows a gain in energy of approximately 15%compared with a baseline protograph optimized for performance only.