The nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT), a powerful tool in soliton theory and exactly solvable models, is a method for solving integrable partial differential equations governing wave propagation in ...certain nonlinear media. The NFT decorrelates signal degrees-of-freedom in such models, in much the same way that the Fourier transform does for linear systems. In this three-part series of papers, this observation is exploited for data transmission over integrable channels, such as optical fibers, where pulse propagation is governed by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In this transmission scheme, which can be viewed as a nonlinear analogue of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing commonly used in linear channels, information is encoded in the nonlinear frequencies and their spectral amplitudes. Unlike most other fiber-optic transmission schemes, this technique deals with both dispersion and nonlinearity directly and unconditionally without the need for dispersion or nonlinearity compensation methods. This paper explains the mathematical tools that underlie the method.
The problem of error-control in random linear network coding is considered. A ldquononcoherentrdquo or ldquochannel obliviousrdquo model is assumed where neither transmitter nor receiver is assumed ...to have knowledge of the channel transfer characteristic. Motivated by the property that linear network coding is vector-space preserving, information transmission is modeled as the injection into the network of a basis for a vector space V and the collection by the receiver of a basis for a vector space U . A metric on the projective geometry associated with the packet space is introduced, and it is shown that a minimum-distance decoder for this metric achieves correct decoding if the dimension of the space V cap U is sufficiently large. If the dimension of each codeword is restricted to a fixed integer, the code forms a subset of a finite-field Grassmannian, or, equivalently, a subset of the vertices of the corresponding Grassmann graph. Sphere-packing and sphere-covering bounds as well as a generalization of the singleton bound are provided for such codes. Finally, a Reed-Solomon-like code construction, related to Gabidulin's construction of maximum rank-distance codes, is described and a Sudan-style ldquolist-1rdquo minimum-distance decoding algorithm is provided.
The problem of error control in random linear network coding is addressed from a matrix perspective that is closely related to the subspace perspective of Rotter and Kschischang. A large class of ...constant-dimension subspace codes is investigated. It is shown that codes in this class can be easily constructed from rank-metric codes, while preserving their distance properties. Moreover, it is shown that minimum distance decoding of such subspace codes can be reformulated as a generalized decoding problem for rank-metric codes where partial information about the error is available. This partial information may be in the form of erasures (knowledge of an error location but not its value) and deviations (knowledge of an error value but not its location). Taking erasures and deviations into account (when they occur) strictly increases the error correction capability of a code: if mu erasures and delta deviations occur, then errors of rank t can always be corrected provided that 2t les d - 1 + mu + delta, where d is the minimum rank distance of the code. For Gabidulin codes, an important family of maximum rank distance codes, an efficient decoding algorithm is proposed that can properly exploit erasures and deviations. In a network coding application, where n packets of length M over F(q) are transmitted, the complexity of the decoding algorithm is given by O(dM) operations in an extension field F(q n ).
Motivated by the looming capacity crunch in fiber-optic networks, information transmission over such systems is revisited. Among numerous distortions, interchannel interference in multiuser ...wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is identified as the seemingly intractable factor limiting the achievable rate at high launch power. However, this distortion and similar ones arising from nonlinearity are primarily due to the use of methods suited for linear systems, namely WDM and linear pulse-train transmission, for the nonlinear optical channel. Exploiting the integrability of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation, a nonlinear frequency-division multiplexing (NFDM) scheme is presented, which directly modulates noninteracting signal degrees-of-freedom under NLS propagation. The main distinction between this and previous methods is that NFDM is able to cope with the nonlinearity, and thus, as the signal power or transmission distance is increased, the new method does not suffer from the deterministic crosstalk between signal components, which has degraded the performance of previous approaches. In this paper, emphasis is placed on modulation of the discrete component of the nonlinear Fourier transform of the signal and some simple examples of achievable spectral efficiencies are provided.
In this paper, numerical methods are suggested to compute the discrete and the continuous spectrum of a signal with respect to the Zakharov-Shabat system, a Lax operator underlying numerous ...integrable communication channels including the nonlinear Schrödinger channel, modeling pulse propagation in optical fibers. These methods are subsequently tested and their ability to estimate the spectrum are compared against each other. These methods are used to compute the spectrum of various signals commonly used in the optical fiber communications. It is found that the layer peeling and the spectral methods are suitable schemes to estimate the nonlinear spectra with good accuracy. To illustrate the structure of the spectrum, the locus of the eigenvalues is determined under amplitude and phase modulation in a number of examples. It is observed that in some cases, as signal parameters vary, eigenvalues collide and change their course of motion. The real axis is typically the place from which new eigenvalues originate or, are absorbed into after traveling a trajectory in the complex plane.
The problem of designing physical-layer network coding (PNC) schemes via nested lattices is considered. Building on the compute-and-forward (C&F) relaying strategy of Nazer and Gastpar, who ...demonstrated its asymptotic gain using information-theoretic tools, an algebraic approach is taken to show its potential in practical, nonasymptotic, settings. A general framework is developed for studying nested-lattice-based PNC schemes-called lattice network coding (LNC) schemes for short-by making a direct connection between C&F and module theory. In particular, a generic LNC scheme is presented that makes no assumptions on the underlying nested lattice code. C&F is reinterpreted in this framework, and several generalized constructions of LNC schemes are given. The generic LNC scheme naturally leads to a linear network coding channel over modules, based on which noncoherent network coding can be achieved. Next, performance/complexity tradeoffs of LNC schemes are studied, with a particular focus on hypercube-shaped LNC schemes. The error probability of this class of LNC schemes is largely determined by the minimum intercoset distances of the underlying nested lattice code. Several illustrative hypercube-shaped LNC schemes are designed based on Constructions A and D, showing that nominal coding gains of 3 to 7.5 dB can be obtained with reasonable decoding complexity. Finally, the possibility of decoding multiple linear combinations is considered and related to the shortest independent vectors problem. A notion of dominant solutions is developed together with a suitable lattice-reduction-based algorithm.
A modification is introduced of the successive-cancellation decoder for polar codes, in which local decoders for rate-one constituent codes are simplified. This modification reduces the decoding ...latency and algorithmic complexity of the conventional decoder, while preserving the bit and block error rate. Significant latency and complexity reductions are achieved over a wide range of code rates.
This work proposes a probabilistic shaping scheme for optical WDM systems, where nonlinear interference noise depends on the input optical signal power distribution. With 16-QAM, a white Gaussian ...channel analysis shows that the shaped constellation is able to achieve a reach improvement of up to 7%, while split-step Fourier method simulations suggest that even higher gains are possible in practice. An example system is developed for a transmission distance around 3280 km. A constellation mapping and a low-density parity-check code are developed for this regime to show a reach improvement of 7.1%. These shaping schemes can also be extended to 64-QAM, where a reach improvement of over 10% is expected.
The problem of securing a network coding communication system against an eavesdropper is considered. The network implements linear network coding to deliver n packets from source to each receiver, ...and the adversary can eavesdrop on μ arbitrarily chosen links. The objective is to provide reliable communication to all receivers, while guaranteeing that the source information remains information-theoretically secure from the adversary. A coding scheme is proposed that can achieve the maximum possible rate of n - μ packets. The scheme, which is based on rank-metric codes, has the distinctive property of being universal: it can be applied on top of any communication network without requiring knowledge of or any modifications on the underlying linear network code. The only requirement of the scheme is that the packet length be at least n, which is shown to be strictly necessary for universal communication at the maximum rate. A further scenario is considered where the adversary is allowed not only to eavesdrop but also to inject up to t erroneous packets into the network, and the network may suffer from a rank deficiency of at most ρ. In this case, the proposed scheme can be extended to achieve the rate of n - ρ - 2t - μ packets. This rate is shown to be optimal under the assumption of zero-error communication.
The problem of error correction in both coherent and noncoherent network coding is considered under an adversarial model. For coherent network coding, where knowledge of the network topology and ...network code is assumed at the source and destination nodes, the error correction capability of an (outer) code is succinctly described by the rank metric; as a consequence, it is shown that universal network error correcting codes achieving the Singleton bound can be easily constructed and efficiently decoded. For noncoherent network coding, where knowledge of the network topology and network code is not assumed, the error correction capability of a (subspace) code is given exactly by a new metric, called the injection metric , which is closely related to, but different than, the subspace metric of KOumltter and Kschischang. In particular, in the case of a non-constant-dimension code, the decoder associated with the injection metric is shown to correct more errors then a minimum-subspace-distance decoder. All of these results are based on a general approach to adversarial error correction, which could be useful for other adversarial channels beyond network coding.