Framework for Efficient Exploration of Polar Code Decoders in THz Communication Systems

The exponential growth in data demand and the advent of Beyond 5G and 6G communication systems necessitate advancements in Forward Error Correction (FEC) techniques, particularly for ultra-high-throughput and low-latency requirements. Polar codes have emerged as a promising solution due to their capacity-achieving properties, but their practical deployment, especially in systems requiring throughput towards 1 Tbit/s, is challenging. This paper presents a framework for the rapid exploration of polar code decoder architectures in advanced technology nodes, with a focus on efficient decoder implementations suitable for Terahertz (THz) communication systems. The framework enables a fast quantitative analysis between error-correction performance of polar codes, various decoding algorithms and decoder implementation efficiency. We demonstrate how significant advancements in energy efficiency, area efficiency, and power density can be achieved with this framework, making these implementations viable for the stringent requirements of future wireless communication standards.