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Volume 13 | Issue 7 | Year 2026 | Article Id. IJECE-V13I7P126 | DOI : https://doi.org/10.14445/23488549/IJECE-V13I7P126

Advances in Polar Code Decoding for Next-Generation Communication Systems: A Comprehensive Review

Shahedhadeennisa S, Vindhya P Malagi, Smitha Sasi, Rajeswari P

Received Revised Accepted Published
22 Apr 2026 03 Jun 2026 17 Jun 2026 29 Jul 2026

Citation :

Shahedhadeennisa S, Vindhya P Malagi, Smitha Sasi, Rajeswari P, "Advances in Polar Code Decoding for Next-Generation Communication Systems: A Comprehensive Review," International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 369-381, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488549/IJECE-V13I7P126

Abstract

Polar codes have become a milestone in forward error correction, as they can achieve the channel capacity for Binary-input Memoryless Symmetric (BIMoS) channels and Binary input Partial Response (BPR) channels. Nowadays, their practical deployment still suffers challenges, particularly at short to moderate block lengths, because of the high computational complexity and limited level of parallelization offered by polar codes. The paper proposes the recent advances made in decoding algorithms and hardware implementations, which particular emphasis on recent improvements to Successive Cancellation List (SCL) decoders. The developments can be categorized into three: algorithmic enhancements (Fast-SSCL, polarization-adjusted convolutional codes), parallelization schemes (g-computation, g-branching), and hardware accelerations (unrolled architectures, approximate maximum-likelihood decoding). Together, they work to improve decoding speed and latency while reducing power area constraints of the decoders, thus making polar codes ever closer to real-time deployments in contemporary communication systems. Integrating these methodologies with polar codes may significantly enhance communication. The comparative study of the literature survey demonstrates the high performance of decoder, which can reduce implementation complexity. Existing studies largely focus on terrestrial channels, with insufficient domain-specific evaluation of advanced FEC schemes under GNSS and optical satellite channel impairments. This is one of the research gaps identified.

Keywords

Polar codes, Forward error correction, Successive cancellation list, Decoding, Low-latency decoders, FPGA implementation, High-throughput communication systems, Fast-SSCL, GNSS, Optical satellite links.

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