Iterative cross-entropy encoding for memory systems with stuck-at errors

In this paper, a novel iterative encoding scheme is proposed for memory systems suffering from stuck-at errors. The stuck-at errors can be efficiently managed by using side information about stuck-at memory cells during encoding, while encoding for unconstrained number of stuck-at errors is intractable due to its exponential complexity. The proposed coding scheme employs an iterative encoding algorithm using cross-entropy method, which has a polynomial time complexity. In addition, any linear block code (LBC) can be concatenated with the proposed code, to correct for both residual stuck-at errors and random (soft) errors. The proposed coding schemes are evaluated by numerical simulations using a memory channel undergoing both stuck-at and random errors. Simulation results show that the cross-entropy based coding scheme provides an improved block error rate (BLER) performance, or alternatively, a higher overall storage capacity. © 2011 IEEE.