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Computer Science Information Theory

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Tuesday 7 July

Information Theory

Delay Violation Probability Modeling for 5G Systems with HARQ Operation

Meeting the growing demand for quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees in 5G networks requires an accurate characterization of delay performance, commonly captured by the delay violation probability (DVP) at a specified delay target. Although hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a fundamental reliability mechanism in wireless systems and is central to supporting QoS, many existing approaches to DVP prediction for HARQ remain overly simplified. In particular, they omit important delay components and adopt assumptions that do not reflect the operation of HARQ in slot-based systems such as 5G. Consequently, these models can substantially underestimate the DVP, especially under stringent latency requirements, where the contribution of the neglected components becomes critical. To address this gap, we develop a tractable DVP characterization for 5G HARQ that accounts for queueing, transmission, decoding, and feedback delay, as well as the contribution of Control Signaling (CS) transmissions to the overall delay, under practical timing assumptions consistent with 3GPP operation. Moreover, we incorporate parallel packet transmissions that proceed without waiting for earlier packets to succeed, an essential HARQ behavior frequently overlooked in prior work. Using tools from queueing theory and Markov analysis, we then derive upper bounds on the DVP and validate them against ns-3 5G-LENA simulations.
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All authors Sangwon Seo, Vishnu N Moothedath, Niloofar Mehrnia, Neda Petreska, Bernhard Kloiber, James Gross

Information Theory

6G Sensing Security: Distributed Game-Theoretic RL for Urban Beamforming and Attacker Detection

In next-generation networks, communication systems will no longer be limited to data transmission and will be expected to acquire awareness of the surrounding environment. This leads to the concept of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), where the same wireless infrastructure is used for both communication and environmental sensing. Thus, ISAC enables the system to transmit information efficiently and observe and interpret channel variations and user behavior. Motivated by this capability, this work focuses on detecting an active attacker in an urban environment scenario, where the attacker intentionally manipulates beamforming directions to increase interference and mislead the transmitter into allocating the main lobe of beam toward itself instead of legitimate users. We apply game-theoretic approaches to model the interaction between legitimate users and the attacker, and integrate the resulting utility-based formulation into a reinforcement learning (RL) framework. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively addresses security challenges in dynamic 6G ISAC systems.
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Information Theory

HAPS as a Hypercell: Enabling Coverage and Capacity Carrier Shutdown in Cellular Networks

Energy consumption remains a dominant operational challenge for current and future cellular systems, especially in dense urban deployments. This paper investigates a novel role for non terrestrial network (NTN) high-altitude platform station (HAPS) as an enabler of energy-efficient operation rather than only coverage extension. We define the HAPS-Hypercell as a wide-area non-terrestrial layer that can assume the coverage role of multiple terrestrial macro-cells, enabling, for the first time, the shutdown of both capacity and coverage macro-cells. We develop a comprehensive third generation partnership project (3GPP)-compliant system model, along with two HAPS-Hypercell pairing architectures that capture the interplay among multiple layers, realistic channel conditions, and distributed carrier shutdown (CS) mechanisms. Our results show that the HAPS-Hypercell can effectively reduce overall network power consumption. We then identify key limitations of a straightforward HAPS integration, laying the groundwork for future optimization and providing key insights for next-generation CS operations.
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Information Theory · Cross-listed from stat.ML

Separation Capacity of Scattering Networks on Low-Dimensional Datasets

We aim to identify scattering network architectures that maximize the separation capacity on data with low intrinsic dimension. The networks we consider employ a fixed monomial nonlinearity and no pooling, so that the only design variable is the frame generated by the network filters. For data modeled as rectifiable sets, we first characterize and bound the separation capacity of general feature extractors in terms of the geometry of the dataset. We then particularize to scattering networks and obtain two design criteria: (i) the filters should meet the data on sufficiently many frequencies, and (ii) the matrices coupling the frame to the geometry of the data should be well-conditioned.
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Information Theory

From Bit to Block: Capacity Achievement via Code Concatenation

This paper shows that bit-level reliability can be converted into block-level reliability for binary codes over BMS channels through Forney's concatenation scheme. The construction concatenates an inner code of rate R-o(1) and vanishing bit-error probability \epsilon with an outer code of rate 1-o(1) equipped with a bounded-distance decoder. We show that, when the outer correction radius exceeds \epsilon and a suitable large-deviation condition holds, the concatenated code has rate R-o(1) and vanishing block-error probability. Hence, a family with vanishing bit-error probability for rates below capacity can be converted into a capacity-achieving concatenated-code family. We further show that, when binary BCH codes are used as outer codes, inner codes with bit-error probability \epsilon=o(1/\log\log n) can be converted into a capacity-achieving concatenated family.
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Monday 6 July

Information Theory · Cross-listed from eess.AS

Distributed Multichannel Wiener Filtering for Topology-Unconstrained Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks

This paper introduces the topology-independent distributed multichannel Wiener filter (TI-dMWF), a novel algorithm for distributed node-specific signal estimation in wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs) with unconstrained topologies. The TI-dMWF enables each node in the network to compute its centralized multichannel Wiener filter solution by exchanging only low-dimensional fused signals, without requiring iterative estimation, unlike state-of-the-art approaches such as the topology-independent distributed adaptive node-specific signal estimation (TI-DANSE) algorithm. The TI-dMWF is proven optimal when each source is observed by either all nodes or only one node. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations confirm that it achieves centralized estimation performance in a single run. Its latency as a function of the pruned-tree depth and its computational complexity are also analyzed. Its robustness is assessed in reverberant-room simulations under estimated second-order statistics, various network topologies, and deviations from the assumed observability model.
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All authors Paul Didier, Pourya Behmandpoor, Henri Gode, Toon van Waterschoot, Simon Doclo, Jörg Bitzer, Marc Moonen

Information Theory · Cross-listed from cs.LG

What Does a Discrete Diffusion Model Learn? One Reverse Process in Three Coordinates

What does a discrete diffusion model actually learn? The literature trains denoisers, bridge plug-ins, and concrete scores, each deriving its own ELBO objective under different conventions. This fragmentation makes the object being learned unclear and ELBO values difficult to interpret and compare. All three methods learn the same object in different coordinates: the exact time-reversal of the noising process. We first prove the Oracle Distance identity: for any noising process, the negative ELBO is not just a bound on the likelihood; it equals the data entropy plus the path KL divergence from the reversed noising process to the learned one. Next, for token-factorizing noise, we show that denoiser, bridge plug-in, and concrete score are three coordinates of this reverse process, derive exact conversions between them, and identify the probability distribution learned by each. In particular, contrary to its standard interpretation, the bridge plug-in learns not a denoiser but the cavity distribution: the clean token given the noisy sequence excluding its own position. We confirm the theory by training all three coordinates with masked, uniform, and GIDD kernels on OpenWebText under a shared recipe, and by training uniform-diffusion solvers on four logic tasks. The learned coordinates agree after conversion, while confusing the cavity with the denoiser can severely degrade sampling quality. Together with exact boundary-term formulas, closed-form NELBO calibrations at initialization, and a clock interpretation of time schedules, these results provide a conceptual framework and a mechanical recipe for deriving, implementing, and comparing discrete diffusion processes.
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All authors Rodrigo Casado Noguerales, Bernhard Schölkopf, Thomas Hofmann, Aran Raoufi

Information Theory · Cross-listed from math.ST

Sharp Lower Bound on the Minimax Risk for Multinomial Uniformity Testing via a Conditional Central Limit Theorem

We study minimax goodness-of-fit testing for uniformity from $n$ multinomial observations over $N$ categories against $\ell_p$ departures of size $\epsilon_n$. Writing $u_n:=\epsilon_n^2 n\,N^{3/2-2/p}/\sqrt{2}$ for the associated signal-to-noise ratio, we focus on the intermediate regime $N=o(n^2)$ with $u_n\to u^*\in(0,\infty)$, in which the minimax risk converges to a nontrivial constant. In the Poissonized version of the problem this constant equals $2\Phi(-u^*/2)$ \cite{Kipnis2025minimax}, yielding an upper bound on the multinomial minimax risk. Here we prove the matching lower bound. The key step is a conditional central limit theorem for weighted sums under a Poisson mixture prior, conditioned on the total count. Together with the upper bound in \cite{Kipnis2025minimax}, this gives an exact sharp-constant characterization of the multinomial minimax risk in the intermediate regime.
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Information Theory

Security Analysis of RIS-Assisted Physical-Layer Authentication Over Multipath Channels

In physical layer authentication, verification of a user's identity is based on the characteristics of the transmission channel through which signals are delivered to the authenticator (Bob). In this paper, we assume that the signals received by Bob pass through a \ac{RIS} (controlled by Bob) and that the legitimate transmitter (Alice) is equipped with one antenna. Conversely, the attacker (Trudy) has multiple antennas and uses precoding to deceive Bob's verification. Assuming that Trudy knows all the channel matrices, we first derive her optimal attack strategy. Then, we analyse the conditions under which the channel estimated by Bob is indistinguishable when either Alice or Trudy is transmitting. When Trudy has a single antenna, we show that the indistinguishability condition cannot be met when the channels to the RIS are the result of propagation over multiple paths. For single-path line-of-sight (LOS) conditions, instead, Trudy can impersonate Alice although transmitting from a different position. We verify these results numerically and assess the security of the considered scenario, even when the indistinguishability conditions cannot be met.
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All authors Linda Senigagliesi, Anna V. Guglielmi, Marco Baldi, Stefano Tomasin

Information Theory

New Results on Limited Magnitude Error Correcting Codes

This paper investigates the existence, construction and classification of limited magnitude error-correcting codes, with a focus on splitter sets and their connections to group splittings. We establish new nonexistence results for quasi-perfect splitter sets and provide a complete classification of quasi-perfect $B[0,3](n)$ splitter sets in both singular and nonsingular cases. Furthermore, we derive improved lower bounds for the size of maximal $B[0,3](q)$ sets by investigating Cayley graphs, where $q$ is a prime. We also provide existence criteria for perfect $B[0,6](q)$ splitter sets and quasi-perfect $B[-4,4](2p)$ sets for prime $p$. For perfect burst-correcting codes, we develop a general construction framework, and prove the existence of infinite families of $(k_2,k_1)$-limited-magnitude cyclic $b$-burst-correcting codes for $k_1+k_2\le 4$ and arbitrary burst length $b$. We further provide sufficient existence conditions for general parameters $k_1$ and $k_2$. Our results combine algebraic, combinatorial, and number-theoretic methods to advance the understanding of codes tailored for flash memory and related storage systems.
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All authors Zhiyu Yuan, Tingting Chen, Rongquan Feng, Gennian Ge

Information Theory · Cross-listed from cs.NI

Version-Aware Communication in Multi-Hop IoT Networks with Feedback

Timely communication of information in Internet of Things (IoT) networks is critical to enhancing system performance and energy efficiency by minimizing the transmission of outdated or redundant data. Although timeliness metrics such as the Age of Information (AoI) effectively quantify information freshness, they do not account for content evolution. The Version Age of Information (VAoI) addresses this gap by tracking version lag at the receiver, thereby providing a practical content-aware metric. However, prior research has primarily focused on first-moment analyses in single-hop settings, leaving the distributional properties of VAoI in multi-hop networks, as well as the impact of feedback mechanisms, unexplored. In this study, we provide a comprehensive characterization of VAoI in multi-hop networks with transmission constraints and acknowledgment-based feedback. A bi-level optimization framework is formulated to jointly optimize the update policy of a rate-constrained source and the feedback-aware forwarding policies of the intermediate nodes, aiming to minimize communication overhead while maintaining VAoI performance at the destination. We show that the optimal source policy follows a threshold-based update strategy and derive the optimal threshold in closed form. For both the optimal threshold policy and a randomized baseline, we obtain closed-form expressions for the stationary distribution and average VAoI, along with the corresponding update rates across network nodes under feedback-aware forwarding. Numerical results corroborate the analytical findings and illustrate the advantages of utilizing VAoI and feedback to reduce redundant transmissions while preserving data freshness and informativeness in multi-hop systems.
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Information Theory

Minimum distances of LDPC codes in 5G standard

We propose several approaches for bounding the minim\-um distances of the family of quasi-cyclic LDPC codes in the 5G NR standard. In particular, we show that the high-rate [9984, 8448] and the low-rate [25344, 8448] BG1 5G LDPC codes have minimum distances in the ranges {8..14} and {22..57}, respectively. Also we propose a new early termination approach based on circulant modular reduction, which significantly lowers syndrome calculation complexity for the LDPC decoder.
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Information Theory

A Differentiable Covariance Calculus for Linear Gaussian Bayesian Networks

Linear Gaussian Bayesian networks, equivalently linear Gaussian structural equation models, recur across statistics, control, and communications; in the vector-valued setting that motivates this work, their nodes are vectors and their edges are matrices. Every quantity of interest is a function of sub-blocks of the joint covariance, which is itself a classical, differentiable map (the K-recursion) from the local edge and innovation parameters. Yet the resulting inference and estimation tasks are usually derived and implemented separately, per task and per topology. Taking this covariance chart as a single backend, we build on it a unified, differentiable covariance calculus in which each task reduces to a few linear-algebra primitives on the one covariance, and automatic differentiation returns every gradient in a single backward sweep, over arbitrary vector-valued directed acyclic graphs and parametrizations, including tied and structured ones. The calculus covers conditioning, conditional-independence testing through mutual information, maximum-likelihood estimation with hidden nodes, and the Slepian–Bangs Fisher information with the local identifiability and Cramér–Rao reliability it induces. It is validated on a linear Gaussian state-space model and a skip-connected (non-chain) extension against the Kalman recursions, d-separation, and the Cramér–Rao bound.
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Information Theory

Rainbow Beamforming for Wideband LEO Satellite Communications: Principles, Applications, and Technical Challenges

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications (SATCOM) has emerged as a key enabler of global connectivity for 6G networks. To overcome the significant path loss of space-to-ground links, high-gain directional beamforming (BF) is indispensable. As LEO systems evolve toward wider bandwidths to support data-intensive applications, however, they encounter a fundamental physical limitation known as the beam-squint effect, which induces frequency-dependent beam misalignment. Conventionally, the beam-squint effect has been treated as a critical performance impairment that must be mitigated. This article introduces a paradigm shift in wideband LEO satellite systems by redefining beam-squint as a valuable source of frequency-spatial diversity and presents the principles of rainbow BF. Rather than mitigating beam squint, rainbow BF deliberately exploits it to generate frequency-dependent beams, enabling different frequency components to illuminate distinct spatial directions using only a single or a small number of radio frequency chains. By supporting dynamic frequency-spatial beam allocation, rainbow BF offers enhanced flexibility and scalability for wideband LEO SATCOM. We further illustrate the benefits of rainbow BF through three representative LEO SATCOM applications: i) massive multiple access to overcome the latency and throughput bottlenecks of conventional beam hopping; ii) integrated sensing and communications for simultaneous target detection and data transmission; and iii) rapid satellite acquisition to reduce search overhead and improve link reliability. Finally, we discuss key implementation challenges and outline promising future research directions for rainbow BF in wideband LEO SATCOM.
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All authors Juha Park, Hyungseok Ko, Haejung Kim, Namyoon Lee, Ian P. Roberts, H. Vincent Poor, Wonjae Shin

Sunday 5 July

Information Theory · Cross-listed from quant-ph

Noise-Aware Synthesis of Quantum LDPC Encoder Circuits via Two-Sided Hamming Descent

Quantum low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are a promising route to fault-tolerant quantum computation, but their use requires efficient preparation of encoded states. Standard encoder constructions generate circuits through fixed algebraic procedures, yet the resulting circuit can contain substantial redundancy. We formulate LDPC encoder preparation as a circuit-resynthesis problem: given the linear-reversible matrix implemented by the encoder's CNOT block, we seek a lower-cost equivalent circuit that can be routed efficiently on the target hardware and which mitigates noise. We propose a novel optimization approach referred as two-sided Hamming descent and a noise-aware optimization pipeline for this task. Across several families of Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) LDPC encoders, including Bivariate Bicycle, hypergraph-product, and entanglement-assisted codes, the proposed pipeline produces substantially smaller and shallower encoder circuits than the standard constructions and the synthesis baselines considered, cutting gate counts by 53.8% in aggregate across the benchmark and by up to 68% on the Bivariate Bicycle family. The gains remain visible after routing, where the two-qubit depth is reduced by up to 71% and translate into higher-fidelity state preparation under circuit-level noise. On the Bivariate Bicycle family, live-range scheduling further reduces routed preparation failure by up to 13.7% without adding two-qubit gates to the selected circuit. These results indicate that encoder-matrix resynthesis, combined with hardware-calibrated selection and scheduling, is an effective compiler-level tool for preparing quantum LDPC code states.
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Information Theory

Orchestrating Communication, Computing, and Energy Transfer for Wireless-Powered 6G Closed-Loop Controls

Future sixth generation (6G) communications are expected to support robotic control tasks in applications such as industrial automation and emergency response, where sensors, computing units, and robots are interconnected via nervous system-like networks to form sensing-communication-computing-control (SC3) closed loops. However, the limited battery capacities of devices within these SC3 loops constrain operational duration and degrade control efficiency, particularly in remote or post-disaster scenarios. To address this challenge, wireless power transfer (WPT) can be leveraged to provide continuous energy supply for SC3 closed loops. In this paper, we investigate a wireless-powered SC3 system, where a satellite transfers energy via radio frequency (RF) signals to support the communication and computing processes of multiple SC3 closed loops. By accounting for the intricate coupling among computing, communication, and energy transfer, we propose a holistic design framework to enhance overall control performance. Specifically, we adopt the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) cost as the performance metric and formulate a sum LQR cost minimization problem. The uplink/downlink transmit power, bandwidth allocation, computing capability, communication/computing time allocation, and WPT power allocation are jointly optimized. We recast the problem into a more tractable form and develop an iterative algorithm to solve it. For the special case of a single loop, we further analyze the properties of optimal solutions in energy-limited scenarios to provide insights for practical parameter configuration. Simulation results demonstrate the performance gains of the proposed scheme.
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All authors Chengleyang Lei, Wei Feng, Yanmin Wang, Yunfei Chen, Xiaoyu Liu, Liuguo Yin, Ning Ge

Information Theory

A Gallager-Type Redundancy Bound for Binary Shannon-Fano Coding

Krajči, Liu, Mikeš, and Moser proved in 2015 that the redundancy of binary Shannon-Fano coding is always below one bit. We sharpen this to a bound depending on the largest source probability $p_1$: an explicit seven-piece envelope $R<f(p_1)$. The envelope equals the exact supremum of $R$ given $p_1$ for every $p_1\ge\tfrac12$ and on a subinterval below $\tfrac13$, and gives the cap $R<\tfrac52-\tfrac56\log_2 5=0.5651$ for $p_1<\tfrac12$. It is the first $p_1$-dependent redundancy bound for Fano codes. The method is more sophisticated than the approach typical for Huffman codes: Fano trees are built top-down by contiguous balanced splits and lack the sibling property. From the $R<1$ theorem the rest follows from the Fano recursion, through a min-corrected affine potential and a no-burial lemma. Every scalar inequality in the proof reduces to a comparison of integer powers.
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Information Theory

Lower Bound of Networked Control with Multiple Sensors and One Controller And The Application to Tracking Gaussian-Markov Source

This paper investigates the causal rate-distortion function for networked control systems with multiple encoders and a single decoder, a longstanding open problem in information and control theory. While previous work has explored the causal rate-distortion function for single-encoder and feedback-enabled networked settings, the case of networks without feedback remains unaddressed. We establish a novel directed information lower bound, the first derived for the networked control setting. We further demonstrate the optimality of linear, independent encoders and linear decoders for optimizing this lower bound for Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) plant and quadratic cost, with the condition that the full plant state is observed when sensors are sitting together. By reducing the original infinite-dimensional optimization problem to a finite-dimensional one, our approach simplifies the analysis. Additionally, our directed information lower bound provides an alternate proof for the sufficiency of linear encoders in the single encoder and single decoder setting with side information, extending prior results in the literature. We present Semidefinite Programming formulations for the causal rate distortion function of Gaussian-Markov sources with linear side information and the singular noise matrix.
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Information Theory

Finite-Blocklength ISAC Multiple Access: A Source-Channel Coding Perspective

Future networks must serve massive populations of devices that sense and communicate simultaneously under short-packet constraints, yet the fundamental limits of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) in the finite-blocklength multiple-access regime remain largely undiscovered. This paper closes this gap from a source-channel coding perspective. We prove that satisfying a sensing-distortion constraint is information-theoretically equivalent to a source-coding requirement, which collapses sensing and communication into the joint recovery of a single effective payload within a coded multiple-access framework. Building on this equivalence, we derive a finite-blocklength achievability bound together with a Fano-sum many-user converse and a genie-aided single-user converse, yielding a tight characterization of the minimum energy per bit and the rate-sensing tradeoff. Numerical results reveal that the energy price of sensing fidelity grows almost linearly in dB per decade of distortion tightening and is significantly amplified by the multiple-access load, and that joint encoding of the effective payload strictly outperforms an optimized orthogonal two-phase scheme, demonstrating a genuine integration gain of ISAC at finite blocklength.
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All authors Zhentian Zhang, Kaitao Meng, Hao Jiang, Zaichen Zhang

Information Theory

Study of Graph-Based Search for Energy-Efficient Clustering in Cell-Free Massive MIMO Networks

This paper investigates energy-efficient clustering in user-centric cell-free massive MIMO networks, addressing the access point clustering and power allocation problems via a mixed-integer fractional program. We propose a framework for energy-efficient clustering and power allocation with a graph-based structured search and describe its optimum solution via an exhaustive search. We also develop the Graph-Based Steepest Ascent (GBSA) algorithm, which combines a graph-based structured search along with continuous power allocation via fractional programming. The proposed GBSA algorithm achieves linear per-iteration complexity while reaching energy efficiency close to the global optimum, outperforming competing techniques and offering a scalable solution for future networks.
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Information Theory · Cross-listed from cs.DS

Quasipolynomial Trace Reconstruction

We show that trace reconstruction on n-bit strings is possible using a quasipolynomial number of traces, for any retention probability p that is at least inverse polylogarithmic in n.

Saturday 4 July

Information Theory

SOGRAND decoding of LDPC codes

Long forward error correction codes are typically constructed by concatenating shorter component codes that are then decoded through iterative Soft-Input Soft-Output (SISO) of their components. The recently introduced Soft Output Guessing Random Additive Noise Decoding (SOGRAND) has been shown to enable accurate SISO component decoding for a broad range of component codes. Here we establish that by specializing its SISO computation to Single Parity Check codes, SOGRAND offers an alternative existing Check Node (CN) update for decoding Low Density Parity Check codes. Simulation results demonstrate similar or better decoding performance than Gallager's sum-product algorithm and norm-min-sum, while offering two distinct low complexity, hardware friendly CN update algorithms.
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All authors Ken R. Duffy, Jiewei Feng, Lukas Rapp, Muriel Médard

Information Theory

The Insertion List-Decoding Capacity and an Improved Bound on the Deletion List-Decoding Capacity

Informally, the capacity of list-decoding in a given adversarial error model is the largest rate at which we can list-decode with list size polynomial in the block length. The capacity of list-decoding from insertions and deletions is a basic, yet poorly understood, aspect of coding against synchronization errors. For example, when dealing with a $\delta>1/2$ fraction of insertions, the best known lower bounds give little more than the fact that the capacity is positive. Beyond that regime we also only have loose bounds, with the lower bounds stemming from the analysis of uniformly random codes. We make progress in our understanding of the limits of list-decoding binary codes from insertions and deletions. We show that the capacity of list-decoding from a $\delta$-fraction of insertions is exactly \begin{equation*} (1+\delta)\left(1-h\left(\frac{\delta}{1+\delta}\right)\right) \end{equation*} for all $\delta\in[0,1]$, achieved with high probability by a code sampled according to a symmetric $2$-state Markov chain. Curiously, we complement this by showing that such an approach does not beat uniformly random coding in list-decoding from deletions. We also give an improved upper bound on the capacity of list-decoding from a $\delta$-fraction of deletions, showing in particular that it behaves like $1-h(\delta)$ when $\delta\to 0$. This matches the asymptotic behavior of the capacity of the binary deletion channel for vanishing deletion probability.
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Information Theory

GII-Polar Codes for Block Fading Channels

Polar codes are proven to be capacity-achieving codes, being gradually practiced in wireless communications. However, their successive cancellation (SC) and successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding incur latency challenge especially for long codes. This paper proposes the generalized integrated interleaved (GII)-polar codes for block Rayleigh fading channels, yielding both reduced decoding latency and competent decoding performance. Under the GII paradigm, two consecutive polar codewords of length $N$ are virtually coupled through a nested codebook which has a lower dimension, capable of correcting more errors. The component polar codes are known as interleaves of a GII-polar code. If decoding of an interleave fails, it can be projected into the decoding of the nested one, enabling richer error patterns to be corrected by each interleave. Since decoding of the interleaves can be performed in parallel, GII-polar codes yield a reduced decoding latency over a single polar code of length $2N$. Our simulation results validate both the decoding latency and performance merits of the proposed coding scheme under block Rayleigh fading channel.
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All authors Fangbo Yi, Zhongjun Yang, Xinzheng He, Li Chen, Huazi Zhang

Information Theory · Cross-listed from quant-ph

On estimating operator norm distance, with optimal trace distance estimation when one state is pure

We investigate the computational complexity of estimating the operator norm distance ${\rm T}_{\infty}(\rho_0,\rho_1)$, defined via the operator norm $\|A\|_{\infty} = \sigma_{\max}(A)$, given ${\rm poly}(n)$-size state-preparation circuits of $n$-qubit quantum states $\rho_0$ and $\rho_1$. We provide efficient quantum estimators for the operator norm distance whose complexity is independent of the rank (and thus the dimension) of the states: 1. When one state is pure, we establish an optimal quantum estimator using $\Theta(1/\epsilon)$ queries to the state-preparation circuits. Consequently, for constant additive error, say $\epsilon=1/5$, our estimator runs in ${\rm poly}(n)$ time. Since the operator norm distance ${\rm T}_{\infty}(|\psi\rangle\!\langle\psi|,\rho)$ is exactly half of the trace distance ${\rm T}(|\psi\rangle\!\langle\psi|,\rho)$, our result also gives rank-independent query complexity for estimating both quantities, whereas the approaches due to van Apeldoorn, Cornelissen, Gilyén, and Nannicini (SODA 2023) and Wang and Zhang (TIT 2024) have query complexity scaling at least linearly with ${\rm rank}(\rho)$, which can be $\exp(n)$ in general. 2. For general quantum states, we also provide a quantum estimator using $\widetilde{O}(1/\epsilon^{3/2})$ queries to the state-preparation circuits, which shows that the corresponding promise problem is ${\sf BQP}$-complete and improves the ${\sf QMA}$ upper bound sketched by Liu and Wang (ESA 2025). Together with an $\Omega(1/\epsilon)$ quantum query complexity lower bound, this leaves only square-root room for improvement. The key intuition behind our estimators is that, when one state is pure, the pure state $|\psi\rangle$ has overlap at least $1/2$ with the top unit eigenvector of $|\psi\rangle\!\langle\psi|-\rho$, reflecting a structural feature specific to the operator norm distance.
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Information Theory

Function-Correcting Codes for Sum-Rank Metric

Function-Correcting Codes (FCCs) are a class of codes designed to protect the evaluation of a specific function of a message against channel errors at a higher level than the level of protection for the message, while requiring significantly less redundancy than conventional error-correcting codes. In this paper, we study function-correcting codes under the sum-rank metric, which is a natural generalization of both the Hamming metric and the rank-metric and also we derive general upper and lower bounds on the optimal redundancy of FCCs in the sum-rank metric. In particular, we establish a Plotkin-like bound for irregular-distance codes in sum-rank metric. Furthermore, we present explicit construction of function-correcting sum-rank metric codes (FCSRCs) for locally binary functions with optimal redundancy.
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Information Theory

The Hermitian Hull Dimensions for a Class of (L,P)-Twisted Generalized Reed-Solomon Codes

Determining the hull of linear codes has long been an important topic in coding theory. Recently, non-generalized Reed-Solomon (in short, non-GRS) codes have attracted extensive research interest. The (L,P)-twisted generalized Reed-Solomon (in short, (L,P)-TGRS) code, which is an extension of the generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) code, constitutes a well-studied calss of non-GRS codes.There are numerous works focusing on the Euclidean hull of (L,P)-TGRS codes, while only a few results on the Hermitian hull of (L,P)-TGRS codes. In this paper, we focus on a class of (L,P)-TGRS codes C_k(a). By taking a special class of the vector a with length i(q-1), and analyze the parity of i and the relation between i and q+1, we divide three cases to fully determine the Hermitian hull dimension of C_k(a). As an application, we construct two classes of entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes.
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All authors Chenlu Jia, Zhonghao Liang, Yue Huang, Qunying Liao

Friday 3 July

Information Theory · Cross-listed from cs.NI

HMS-SCP: Task-Oriented Multi-Scale Semantic Communication for V2X Cooperative Perception

Cooperative perception enables vehicles and infrastructure to exchange sensor data via Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, extending sensing coverage beyond occlusions and mitigating blind spots. While critical for autonomous driving and safety, practical deployments often rely on bandwidth-efficient late fusion. Recently, intermediate fusion has emerged as a promising approach for an optimal bandwidth-accuracy trade-off. However, in dense urban environments, cumulative bandwidth demands can overwhelm network capacity, potentially compromising safety-critical Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) functions. To alleviate these problems, this paper proposes Hierarchical Multi-Scale Semantic-Aware Cooperative Perception (HMS-SCP), a robust noise-resilient and bandwidth-efficient framework for task-oriented semantic communication in cooperative perception. HMS-SCP employs a spatial importance predictor to identify task-relevant grid elements at each scale, which are then directly mapped into complex-valued symbols for Joint Source-Channel Coding (JSCC). Unlike prior methods that rely on high-dimensional symbol projections for robustness, HMS-SCP exploits structural semantic redundancy across multiple scales to enhance resilience against channel noise, while maintaining an ultra-low symbol rate. This design significantly reduces bandwidth consumption and mitigates network congestion in high-density vehicular environments. Extensive evaluations on the simulated OPV2V and real-world DAIR-V2X datasets demonstrate that HMS-SCP effectively prevents performance collapse under severe Rayleigh fading and extreme compression ratio, maintaining high-confidence far-field detection with a real-time latency of below 16~ms, well within the safety-critical thresholds for dynamic V2X environments.
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All authors Chun-Yeow Yeoh, Chee Keong Tan, Joanne Mun-Yee Lim, Heng-Siong Lim

Information Theory · Cross-listed from cs.AI

Reinforcement Learning for Heterogeneous Sensor Selection in Maritime Surveillance

This paper presents an information-gain-guided reinforcement-learning sensor-selection framework for single-vessel tracking in heterogeneous maritime sensor networks. The proposed approach is motivated by information-theoretic sensor management: instead of activating all sensors or repeatedly performing computationally expensive online expected-information-gain evaluation, a learned policy selects one tracking-relevant sensor at each decision epoch. A Bayesian sequential Monte Carlo tracker estimates the vessel state from noisy measurements and provides a belief representation for scheduling under nonlinear and non-Gaussian conditions. A Proximal Policy Optimization agent selects one of five sensors in a georeferenced simulation of the CMMI Smart Marina testbed at Ayia Napa Marina, Cyprus. The policy is trained on the testbed's actual five-sensor configuration. The agent observes belief-state, detection-history, coverage, sensor-geometry, and realized-information-gain features. The reward is defined as a realized-information-gain term gated by an observability mask. Final-test simulations compare the proposed framework with random single-sensor selection, always-on sensing using all sensors simultaneously, and the expected-information-gain sensor-selection baseline proposed in our previous work. Results show that the learned policy achieves tracking performance close to always-on sensing while activating only one sensor per decision time step and avoiding the computationally expensive online entropy search required by expected-information-gain selection. Additional zero-shot evaluation without retraining on ten moderately perturbed versions of actual layout configuration showed broadly stable tracking, with any increase in positional tracking error remaining below 1 meter across all perturbations.
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All authors Andrei Starodubov, Yaqub Aris Prabowo, Andreas Hadjipieris, Roberto Galeazzi, Ioannis Kyriakides

Information Theory

The Informational Cost of Structure: Representational Complexity in Networked Dynamical Systems

How much information is required to represent a dynamical system in terms of an interaction structure and an evolution rule? We address this question using algorithmic information theory. We introduce Representational Complexity, the excess description length of a structure-plus-rule model relative to the shortest possible description of the dynamics itself. This intrinsic description defines a universal lower bound: no exact structural representation can be more concise. If arbitrary rules are allowed, graphs, hypergraphs, and other formalisms can all reach this bound by shifting information between structure and dynamics, so expressiveness alone cannot distinguish them. Meaningful differences arise only when scientific modeling restricts the admissible structures and rules. Within this setting, we identify conditions under which graph and hypergraph descriptions are informationally equivalent, and show how graph-preferred, hypergraph-preferred, and mixed regimes can emerge when those conditions are relaxed. Because Kolmogorov complexity is not computable, we complement the formal results with explicit description-length estimates. Our framework reframes the choice of network representation as a question of informational cost and mechanistic transparency rather than universal expressive power.
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All authors Cyril Rommens, Pietro Traversa, Guilherme Ferraz de Arruda, Yamir Moreno