A Synthesizable IP Core for WiMedia 1.5 UWB LDPC Code Decoding

The upcoming WiMedia 1.5 standard for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) supports payload throughputs of more than 1 Gbit/s. It features Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes as coding scheme for the high data rate modes. LDPC decoder design for this standard is a very challenging task, since it has to offer high throughputs, low latency, excellent error correction capabilities, and furthermore flexibility. LDPC decoding is an iterative process. A huge amount of data has to be exchanged between processing units in each iteration. A high parallelism of the decoder is essential in order to meet the tight requirements of the WiMedia standard. In this paper we present to the best of our knowledge the first implementation of an LDPC decoder for WiMedia 1.5. The decoder uses an increased parallelism compared to conventional decoder architectures, which enables high payload throughputs of more than 1 Gbit/s for a small block size of 1200 bits. Detailed synthesis and communications performance results are shown.