The Asymptotic Bit Error Probability of LDPC Codes for the Binary Erasure Channel with Finite Iteration Number

Abstract: We consider communication over the binary erasure channel (BEC) using low-density parity-check (LDPC) code and belief propagation (BP) decoding. The bit error probability for infinite block length is known by density evolution and it is well known that a difference between the bit error probability at finite iteration number for finite block length $n$ and for infinite block length is asymptotically $\alpha/n$, where $\alpha$ is a specific constant depending on the degree distribution, the iteration number and the erasure probability. Our main result is to derive an efficient algorithm for calculating $\alpha$ for regular ensembles. The approximation using $\alpha$ is accurate for $(2,r)$-regular ensembles even in small block length.