An Energy Efficient Hybrid FEC-ARQ Communication Scheme for Small Satellite Applications

Abstract

With the extensive cost reductions associated with small satellites, low Earth orbit missions are increasingly becoming popular, mostly with universities and the New-Space industry. However, a persistent limitation associated with the smallest satellites is the significant reduction in energy resources that each satellite has at its disposal. This limitation poses a challenge when using advanced communication systems, particularly those employing advanced forward error correction such as low-density parity check (LDPC) codes. To conserve the high computational energy required to decode such codes, we propose a novel early termination stopping criterion for LDPC decoders that is based on detecting the periodicity of syndrome weight oscillations. The technique is independent of the operating signal-to-noise ratio and results in reductions better than 80%, in the computational energy expended on a well-known bit-flipping decoding algorithm. Real world results are presented using an ARM-based microcontroller.