Papers for

communication protocol developers

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Polynomial time codes enable efficient symbol recovery from compressed data

Polynomial-Time Constructions of Asymptotically Good Random Access Codes from Linear Codes

Abstract: Random access codes (RACs) encode a $q$-ary input string into fewer $q$-ary symbols while allowing any requested input symbol to be recovered with probability above the random-guessing value $1/q$. However, it remains unclear what asymptotic guarantees on compression and recovery probability should be required of RACs. We address this question by introducing the notion of asymptotically good RACs and give two polynomial-time constructions. First, an $[n,k,d]_q$ linear code with $d\ge2$, together with an encoder based on its orthogonal-array property, yields an $(n,n-k)_q$-RAC with worst-case decoding success probability \[ p_{\rm wc}=\frac{1}{q}+\left(1-\frac{1}{q}\right)\frac{d-2}{n}. \] These OA-RACs are asymptotically good whenever the underlying linear codes are, and Garcia--Stichtenoth algebraic-geometry codes give a concrete polynomial-time realization. Second, a direct-sum strategy using OA-RACs derived from $q$-ary Hamming codes and the trivial $(1,1)_q$-RAC yields asymptotically good RAC families at every prescribed RAC rate $R_{\rm RAC}=(n-k)/n\in(0,1)$. Numerical results demonstrate favorable finite-length performance of both constructions.

Wed 28 OctInformation Theory
The gist
Random access codes compress information but still let you recover any piece you want better than random guessing. The authors clarify what makes such codes good when data grows large and show how to build them efficiently. They use special linear codes that let you decode parts of compressed data with a guaranteed success rate. Their constructions work well for large data and come with practical algorithms to create these codes.
Open → 2610.38429v1

Continual learning improves reliability in molecular communication systems

Continual Learning for Reliable In-Sequence Molecular Communication

Abstract: This paper considers reliable in-sequence molecular communication, where bio-nanomachines exchange molecule-encoded information in a specified order, and investigates a new simulation-based method to incrementally evaluate communication protocols by gradually increasing the complexity of experimental settings. The proposed method, called Affine Memory Replay (AMR), builds a continual learning (CL) model to estimate communication performance between bio-nanomachines. AMR stores past simulation samples and synthesizes additional replay samples through interpolation and extrapolation between past samples. Through incremental performance estimation tasks, it replays both past and synthetic samples to regularize model updates, helping the model adapt to new experimental settings while retaining knowledge from earlier ones. Experimental results show that AMR significantly outperforms existing CL methods in maintaining overall estimation accuracy across sequentially learned estimation tasks. It effectively balances memory stability and learning plasticity under moderate training cost.

Wed 14 OctMachine Learning
The gist
Molecular communication is a way that tiny biological machines can send messages using molecules in a specific order. The authors developed a new technique called Affine Memory Replay that helps computers learn how well these messages are sent and received across different conditions. This method remembers past situations and creates new examples to keep improving without forgetting old knowledge. Their tests show it works better than older approaches, keeping accuracy high while adapting to new challenges.
Open → 2610.20426v1

Codes protect data and related function values against errors in lee metric

On Function-Correcting Lee Metric Codes with Data Protection

Abstract: Function-correcting codes are designed to protect the function values of a prescribed function against errors. Every error-correcting code that provides data protection inherently offers some degree of protection for functions defined on the data. In this work, we introduce a class of codes over $\mathbb{Z}_m$, termed function-correcting Lee metric codes with data protection (FCLMCs with data protection), which simultaneously provide error protection for both the data and the corresponding function values under the Lee metric. We consider codes that provide protection against a prescribed level of error for the function values that exceeds the level of protection guaranteed for the underlying data. We present a general construction of these codes and derive lower and upper bounds on the optimal redundancy, including a Plotkin-type lower bound. Furthermore, we derive explicit upper bounds on the redundancy of FCLMCs with data protection for several important classes of functions, including locally binary Lee functions, the Lee weight function, and the modular sum function. Finally, since the Lee metric coincides with the Hamming metric over $\mathbb{Z}_2$, all of our results remain valid over $\mathbb{Z}_2$ with respect to the Hamming metric.

Thu 8 OctInformation Theory
The gist
Protecting information from errors can also protect the answers to questions asked about that information. The authors focus on special codes that not only fix errors in the raw data but also better protect the results of specific functions applied to that data. They create a new type of code that works over numbers with a certain error measure called the Lee metric, ensuring stronger protection for function results than the data itself. Their work includes ways to build these codes and mathematical limits on how efficient they can be. This also applies to the simpler case of binary data and the common Hamming error measure.
Open → 2610.12217v1

Limits of low-weight redundant checks in decoding random LDPC codes

Limits of Weight-Bounded Redundant Checks for Peeling Decoding of Random Regular LDPC Codes

Abstract: We study peeling decoding on the binary erasure channel when redundant parity checks may be added without restriction in number, but each check is subject to a row-weight constraint. For random simple binary regular low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, we consider the parity-check matrix formed by all nonzero dual codewords up to a prescribed weight. We show that, throughout an explicit logarithmic row-weight range, this complete family of redundant checks has the same asymptotic normalized-residual threshold as peeling with the original LDPC matrix. In the same range, with probability tending to one over the random code, it still has a linear-size stopping set that is uniquely decodable. Consequently, every parity-check representation whose peeling decoder succeeds on every uniquely decodable erasure pattern must contain checks above this logarithmic scale, and the supports of those heavier checks must collectively contain a linear number of coordinates. Thus row weight remains an asymptotic limitation even when the number and selection of redundant checks are unrestricted.

Sun 4 OctInformation Theory
The gist
When trying to fix data errors using a certain type of error-correcting code (LDPC codes), one can add extra checks to help find and fix problems. This paper shows that if these extra checks are limited to having only a small number of bits checked at once, then even adding many such checks will not improve error-fixing performance beyond a certain point. The authors prove that fixing all error patterns requires some checks that cover many bits at once, not just small ones.
Open → 2610.05260v1

Researchers determine exact optimal factor for universal integer coding

Optimal Universal Coding of Integers

Abstract: Universal coding of integers (UCI) provides binary codewords for positive integers such that, for every nonincreasing source distribution $P$, the average codeword length stays within $K$ times $\max\{1,H(P)\}$. The smallest constant $K$ is called the minimum expansion factor of UCI $\mathcal{C}$, denoted $C_{\mathcal{C}}^{*}$. The optimal minimum expansion factor $C^*=\inf\{C_{\mathcal{C}}^{*}\}$ is the minimum expansion factor corresponding to the optimal UCI. The optimal minimum expansion factor is currently known to lie in the range $2\le C^*\le 2.0386$. In this paper, we construct a family of one-point plus uniform-tail distributions and prove that, for every universal code, the worst-case ratio is attained by a distribution in this family, so that the family is least favorable for the UCI problem. We further establish an inequality, called the \emph{UCI inequality}, which plays the same role for UCI as the Kraft inequality does for prefix codes: for any real number $B$, it decides whether $B$ lies below or above $C^*$. Through the UCI inequality, we obtain an equivalent definition of $C^*$. By numerical computation, we determine $C^*=2.000124757036101\cdots$, the first fifteen decimal digits being certified. Once $C^*$ is known, we can theoretically construct the optimal UCI.

Thu 1 OctInformation Theory
The gist
This paper deals with the problem of how to represent any positive integer as a string of binary digits in a way that works well no matter how frequently different numbers appear. The authors find a special number, called the optimal minimum expansion factor, that measures how much longer codewords might get compared to the best possible limit. They prove this number precisely and show how to calculate it. Knowing this number helps build the best possible universal code for integers.
Open → 2610.01563v1

Transmitter trojan channel reveals data leaks and detection tradeoffs

The Transmitter Trojan Channel: Achievable Rates and Error Exponents

Abstract: Experiments have shown that modifications in communication hardware can enable unauthorized exfiltration of data from transmitters. We study the resulting Transmitter Trojan channel, in which a malicious encoder embedded within a legitimate transmitter perturbs the transmitted codeword on a symbol-by-symbol basis. The model reflects the limited footprint, delay, and computational complexity available to such hardware modifications. We derive achievable rogue message rate and achievable rates for the legitimate message under the mismatch induced by the Trojan. We also analyze decoding error exponents for the legitimate and rogue receivers, including operational exponent lower bounds obtained through channel-resolvability transfer arguments. Finally, we study Trojan detection at the legitimate receiver under different levels of statistical knowledge, including likelihood-ratio detection when the ensemble-averaged induced channel is known and goodness-of-fit detection when only the nominal channel is known. The resulting detection error exponents, together with the achievable rate and decoding error exponents, quantify tradeoffs among rogue message rate, legitimate message rate, decoding reliability, and Trojan detectability. We specialize the analysis to the binary symmetric channel and the additive white Gaussian noise channel, and illustrate the resulting tradeoffs numerically.

Fri 25 SeptInformation Theory
The gist
Sometimes, tiny changes inside communication devices can sneak out secret messages without being noticed. The authors study how these hidden messages affect normal transmissions and how well they can be detected by the receiver. They look at how fast secret and normal messages can be sent, how often errors happen, and how likely the secret messages are to be spotted. They tested their ideas with common communication models to show the tradeoffs between hiding data and staying reliable.
Open → 2609.32074v1