On the Growth Rate of the Weight Distribution of Doubly-Generalized LDPC Codes

In this paper, the asymptotic growth rate of the weight distribution of irregular doubly generalized LDPC (D-GLDPC) codes is derived. The analysis yields a compact expression which accurately approximates the growth rate function for the case of small linear-weight codewords. This paper generalizes existing results for LDPC and generalized LDPC (GLDPC) codes. Ensembles with smallest check or variable node minimum distance greater than 2 are shown to have good growth-rate behavior, while for other ensembles a fundamental parameter is identified which discriminates between an asymptotically small and an asymptotically large expected number of small linear-weight codewords. Also, in the latter case it is shown that the growth rate depends only on the check and variable nodes with minimum distance 2. An important connection between this new result and the stability condition of D-GLDPC codes over the BEC is highlighted. Such a connection, previously observed for LDPC and GLDPC codes, is now extended to the case of D-GLDPC codes. Finally, it is shown that the analysis may be extended to include the growth rate of the stopping set size distribution of irregular D-GLDPC codes.