THE SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY WORKSHOP ON THEFRONTIERS OF ALGEBRAIC CODING THEORY AND APPLICATIONS

The Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) Workshop on the Frontiers of Algebraic Coding Theory and Applications took place at the SYSU Guangzhou South Campus on Aug. 13, 2023. It was jointly organized by the IEEE Information Theory (IT) Society Guangzhou Chapter and the School of Electronics and Information Technology of SYSU, and co-sponsored by the 2023 High-Level Academic Conference Fund from the University Office of Scientific Research and Development. More than 50 scholars and industrial practitioners participated in the workshop. They came from over 10 academic institutions / companies, including SYSU, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Beihang University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Xidian University, Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT), Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., TenaFe Inc., etc. The workshop was chaired by Prof. Li Chen of SYSU, who is also the chair of the IEEE IT Society Guangzhou Chapter.

With the features of large codeword length, randomness and capacity polarization, modern channel codes can approach and even achieve channel capacity. However, future communications and storage systems demand more advancements in terms of latency, power efficiency and flexibility. Recalling the art of classic channel codes, algebra is the indispensable element. Classic channel codes rely on good algebraic structure to exhibit good error-correction capability and efficient decoding algorithms. With the spirit of revisiting the classics, benefiting the moderns and envisioning our futures, this workshop aimed to focus on the state-of-the-art in algebraic coding theory, techniques and their industrial impacts. Opposite to the iterative decoding techniques for turbo codes and low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, algebraic decoding techniques often operate in a one-shot manner, inheriting the advantages in both the decoding latency and efficiency. On the other hand, future wireless networks may rely on short-to-medium length channel codes to realize the vision of ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). They do not have the above mentioned capacity-approaching (or achieving) enabling features. Instead, they need to have good algebraic structure that reflects on the code’s weight spectrum and also enables their efficient decoding. Therefore, it is envisioned that algebraic coding theory and techniques may have their renaissance and play an important role again in the near future. It is hoped that this workshop can rediscover the significance of algebra in coding theory, promote more research ideas and endeavors, and further benefit the industry.

The workshop was featured by seven in-depth talks with its agenda given below. Prof. Li Chen delivered the opening speech, welcoming the participants and emphasizing the aim of the workshop. In the morning session, Dr. Yingquan Wu, chief scientist of TenaFe, gave the first talk. He systematically introduced the generalized integrated interleaved codes with Reed-Solomon codes and BCH codes as the component codes. Then, Prof. Bazhong Shen from Xidian University offered insights into the challenges of maximum likelihood decoding and its possible trendy artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Prof. Chaoping Xing, the Associate Dean of the School of Cyber Science and Engineering at SJTU, presented a unified framework for fast Fourier transform via algebraic function fields. Afterwards, Prof. Li Chen shared the idea of using algebra to reduce the ordered statistics decoding latency for BCH codes. At the end of the morning session, Dr. Yingquan Wu further shared another work - a novel Chase Kötter-Vardy decoding algorithm. The afternoon session talks were delivered by researchers from Huawei. Dr. Huazi Zhang started this session with a spectrum analysis of polar codes via their algebraic properties. Then, Dr. Jiongyue Xing introduced a novel shift-sum decoding method for cyclic codes. The last talk was presented by Dr. Yunqi Wan, who shared the re-encoding transform in algebraic list decoding of algebraic-geometric codes.

Before the end, a panel discussion on the significance of algebra in coding theory and techniques was joined by Dr. Yingquan Wu, Prof. Bazhong Shen, Prof. Chaoping Xing, Prof. Guojun Han (GDUT), and Dr. Huazi Zhang, and moderated by Prof. Li Chen. They exchanged their opinions with other workshop participants, with more insights shared and yet more challenges unfolded. Finally, Prof. Li Chen summarized the workshop by thanking all participants. He also traced the origin of the term “algebra” and its later Chinese translation “daishu” (代数), which helped reflect the essence of algebraic coding.