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The sum-rank metric generalizes the Hamming and rank metric by partitioning vectors into blocks and defining the total weight as the sum of the rank weights of these blocks, based on their matrix representation. In this work, we explore support-guessing algorithms for decoding sum-rank-metric codes. Support-guessing involves randomly selecting candidate supports and attempting to decode the error under the assumption that it is confined to these supports. While previous works have focused on worst-case scenarios, we analyze the average case and derive an optimal support-guessing distribution in the asymptotic regime. We show that this distribution also performs well for finite code lengths. Our analysis provides exact complexity estimates for unique decoding scenarios and establishes tighter bounds beyond the unique decoding radius. Additionally, we introduce a randomized decoding algorithm for Linearized Reed--Solomon (LRS) codes. This algorithm extends decoding capabilities beyond the unique decoding radius by leveraging an efficient error-and-erasure decoder. Instead of requiring the entire error support to be confined to the guessed support, the algorithm succeeds as long as there is sufficient overlap between the guessed support and the actual error support. As a result, the proposed method improves the success probability and reduces computational complexity compared to generic decoding algorithms. Our contributions offer more accurate complexity estimates than previous works, which are essential for understanding the computational challenges involved in decoding sum-rank-metric codes. This improved complexity analysis, along with optimized support-guessing distributions, provides valuable insights for the design and evaluation of code-based cryptosystems using the sum-rank metric. This is particularly important in the context of quantum-resistant cryptography., Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory

In this paper we consider a Metzner-Kapturowski-like decoding algorithm for high-order interleaved sum-rank-metric codes, offering a novel perspective on the decoding process through the concept of an error code. The error code, defined as the linear code spanned by the vectors forming the error matrix, provides a more intuitive understanding of the decoder's functionality and new insights. The proposed algorithm can correct errors of sum-rank weight up to $d-2$, where $d$ is the minimum distance of the constituent code, given a sufficiently large interleaving order. The decoder's versatility is highlighted by its applicability to any linear constituent code, including unstructured or random codes. The computational complexity is $O(\max\{n^3, n^2 s\})$ operations over $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$, where $n$ is the code length and $s$ is the interleaving order. We further explore the success probability of the decoder for random errors, providing an efficient algorithm to compute an upper bound on this probability. Additionally, we derive bounds and approximations for the success probability when the error weight exceeds the unique decoding radius, showing that the decoder maintains a high success probability in this regime. Our findings suggest that this decoder could be a valuable tool for the design and security analysis of code-based cryptosystems using interleaved sum-rank-metric codes. The new insights into the decoding process and the high success probability of the algorithm even beyond the unique decoding radius underscore its potential to contribute to various coding-related applications., Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory

This paper provides new bounds on the size of spheres in any coordinate-additive metric with a particular focus on improving existing bounds in the sum-rank metric. We derive improved upper and lower bounds based on the entropy of a distribution related to the Boltzmann distribution, which work for any coordinate-additive metric. Additionally, we derive new closed-form upper and lower bounds specifically for the sum-rank metric that outperform existing closed-form bounds.

In this paper we address the problem of decoding linearized Reed-Solomon (LRS) codes beyond their unique decoding radius. We analyze the complexity in order to evaluate if the considered problem is of cryptographic relevance, i.e., can be used to design cryptosystems that are computationally hard to break. We show that our proposed algorithm improves over other generic algorithms that do not take into account the underlying code structure.

We consider decoding of vertically homogeneous interleaved sum-rank-metric codes with high interleaving order $s$, that are constructed by stacking $s$ codewords of a single constituent code. We propose a Metzner--Kapturowski-like decoding algorithm that can correct errors of sum-rank weight $t <= d-2$, where $d$ is the minimum distance of the code, if the interleaving order $s > t$ and the error matrix fulfills a certain rank condition. The proposed decoding algorithm generalizes the Metzner--Kapturowski(-like) decoders in the Hamming metric and the rank metric and has a computational complexity of $\tilde{O}(\max(n^3, n^2 s))$ operations in $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$, where $n$ is the length of the code. The scheme performs linear-algebraic operations only and thus works for any interleaved linear sum-rank-metric code. We show how the decoder can be used to decode high-order interleaved codes in the skew metric. Apart from error control, the proposed decoder allows to determine the security level of code-based cryptosystems based on interleaved sum-rank metric codes.

Skew polynomials are a class of non-commutative polynomials that have several applications in computer science, coding theory and cryptography. In particular, skew polynomials can be used to construct and decode evaluation codes in several metrics, like e.g. the Hamming, rank, sum-rank and skew metric. We propose a fast divide-and-conquer variant of K\"otter-Nielsen-H{\o}holdt (KNH) interpolation algorithm: it inputs a list of linear functionals on skew polynomial vectors, and outputs a reduced Gr\"obner basis of their kernel intersection. We show, that the proposed KNH interpolation can be used to solve the interpolation step of interpolation-based decoding of interleaved Gabidulin codes in the rank-metric, linearized Reed-Solomon codes in the sum-rank metric and skew Reed-Solomon codes in the skew metric requiring at most $\tilde{O}(s^{\omega} M(n))$ operations in $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$ , where $n$ is the length of the code, $s$ the interleaving order, $M(n)$ the complexity for multiplying two skew polynomials of degree at most $n$, ${\omega}$ the matrix multiplication exponent and $\tilde{O}(\cdot)$ the soft-O notation which neglects log factors. This matches the previous best speeds for these tasks, which were obtained by top-down minimal approximant bases techniques, and complements the theory of efficient interpolation over free skew polynomial modules by the bottom-up KNH approach. In contrast to the top-down approach the bottom-up KNH algorithm has no requirements on the interpolation points and thus does not require any pre-processing., Comment: submitted to Designs, Codes and Cryptography

Skew polynomials are a class of non-commutative polynomials that have several applications in computer science, coding theory and cryptography. In particular, skew polynomials can be used to construct and decode evaluation codes in several metrics, like e.g. the Hamming, rank, sum-rank and skew metric. In this paper we propose a fast divide-and-conquer variant of the K\"otter-Nielsen-H{\o}holdt (KNH) interpolation over free modules over skew polynomial rings. The proposed KNH interpolation can be used to solve the interpolation step of interpolation-based decoding of (interleaved) Gabidulin, linearized Reed-Solomon and skew Reed-Solomon codes efficiently, which have various applications in coding theory and code-based quantum-resistant cryptography., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, submitted to: 25th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS)

Cryptographic algorithms rely on the secrecy of their corresponding keys. On embedded systems with standard CMOS chips, where secure permanent memory such as flash is not available as a key storage, the secret key can be derived from Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) that make use of minuscule manufacturing variations of, for instance, SRAM cells. Since PUFs are affected by environmental changes, the reliable reproduction of the PUF key requires error correction. For silicon PUFs with binary output, errors occur in the form of bitflips within the PUFs response. Modelling the channel as a Binary Symmetric Channel (BSC) with fixed crossover probability $p$ is only a first-order approximation of the real behavior of the PUF response. We propose a more realistic channel model, refered to as the Varying Binary Symmetric Channel (VBSC), which takes into account that the reliability of different PUF response bits may not be equal. We investigate its channel capacity for various scenarios which differ in the channel state information (CSI) present at encoder and decoder. We compare the capacity results for the VBSC for the different CSI cases with reference to the distribution of the bitflip probability according a work by Maes et al.

This paper investigates the decoding of certain Gabidulin codes that were transmitted over a channel with space-symmetric errors. Space-symmetric errors are additive error matrices that have the property that their column and row spaces are equal. We show that for channels restricted to space-symmetric errors, with high probability errors of rank up to 2(n-k)/3 can be decoded with a Gabidulin code of length n and dimension k, using a weak-self orthogonal basis as code locators.

We speed up existing decoding algorithms for three code classes in different metrics: interleaved Gabidulin codes in the rank metric, lifted interleaved Gabidulin codes in the subspace metric, and linearized Reed-Solomon codes in the sum-rank metric. The speed-ups are achieved by new algorithms that reduce the cores of the underlying computational problems of the decoders to one common tool: computing left and right approximant bases of matrices over skew polynomial rings. To accomplish this, we describe a skew-analogue of the existing PM-Basis algorithm for matrices over ordinary polynomials. This captures the bulk of the work in multiplication of skew polynomials, and the complexity benefit comes from existing algorithms performing this faster than in classical quadratic complexity. The new algorithms for the various decoding-related computational problems are interesting in their own and have further applications, in particular parts of decoders of several other codes and foundational problems related to the remainder-evaluation of skew polynomials., Comment: 26 pages, accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory

A key agreement problem is considered that has a biometric or physical identifier, a terminal for key enrollment, and a terminal for reconstruction. A nested convolutional code design is proposed that performs vector quantization during enrollment and error control during reconstruction. Physical identifiers with small bit error probability illustrate the gains of the design. One variant of the nested convolutional codes improves on the best known key vs. storage rate ratio but it has high complexity. A second variant with lower complexity performs similar to nested polar codes. The results suggest that the choice of code for key agreement with identifiers depends primarily on the complexity constraint., Comment: To appear in ACM Workshop on Information Hiding and Multimedia Security 2020

We address the problem of decoding Gabidulin codes beyond their unique error-correction radius. The complexity of this problem is of importance to assess the security of some rank-metric code-based cryptosystems. We propose an approach that introduces row or column erasures to decrease the rank of the error in order to use any proper polynomial-time Gabidulin code error-erasure decoding algorithm. This approach improves on generic rank-metric decoders by an exponential factor.

An efficient decoding algorithm for horizontally u-interleaved LRPC codes is proposed and analyzed. Upper bounds on the decoding failure rate and the computational complexity of the algorithm are derived. It is shown that interleaving reduces the decoding failure rate exponentially in the interleaving order u whereas the computational complexity grows linearly.

This letter proposes successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding of product codes with Reed--Muller (RM) component codes. SCL decoding relies on a product code description based on the $2\times 2$ Hadamard kernel, which enables interpreting the code as an RM subcode. The focus is on a class of product codes considered in wireless communication systems, based on single parity-check and extended Hamming component codes. For short product codes, it is shown that SCL decoding with a moderate list size performs as well as (and, sometimes, outperforms) belief propagation (BP) decoding. Furthermore, by concatenating a short product code with a high-rate outer code, SCL decoding outperforms BP decoding by up to $1.4$ dB., Comment: accepted for publication in IEEE Communications Letters

The design of block codes for short information blocks (e.g., a thousand or less information bits) is an open research problem that is gaining relevance thanks to emerging applications in wireless communication networks. In this paper, we review some of the most promising code constructions targeting the short block regime, and we compare them with both finite-length performance bounds and classical error-correction coding schemes. The work addresses the use of both binary and high-order modulations over the additive white Gaussian noise channel. We will illustrate how to effectively approach the theoretical bounds with various performance versus decoding complexity tradeoffs., Comment: Preprint submitted to Physical Communication; corrected typos; added references; extended discussion on list decoding of polar codes

We show how the iterative decoding threshold of tailbiting spatially coupled (SC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) code ensembles can be improved over the binary input additive white Gaussian noise channel by allowing the use of different transmission energies for the codeword bits. We refer to the proposed approach as energy shaping. We focus on the special case where the transmission energy of a bit is selected among two values, and where a contiguous portion of the codeword is transmitted with the largest one. Given these constraints, an optimal energy boosting policy is derived by means of protograph extrinsic information transfer analysis. We show that the threshold of tailbiting SC-LDPC code ensembles can be made close to that of terminated code ensembles while avoiding the rate loss (due to termination). The analysis is complemented by Monte Carlo simulations, which confirm the viability of the approach., Comment: Accepted for publication in the IEEE Communications Letters

The design of block codes for short information blocks (e.g., a thousand or less information bits) is an open research problem which is gaining relevance thanks to emerging applications in wireless communication networks. In this work, we review some of the most recent code constructions targeting the short block regime, and we compare then with both finite-length performance bounds and classical error correction coding schemes. We will see how it is possible to effectively approach the theoretical bounds, with different performance vs. decoding complexity trade-offs., Comment: A preliminary version of this work was presented at the 25th Edition of the European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), June 2016. This version includes the performance of polar codes with list decoding and CRC