Energy-Adaptive Error Correcting for Dynamic and Heterogeneous Networks

In an era of ever-increasing dynamicity and heterogeneity of wireless networks, energy is fast becoming the most constrained resource. First, we review recent studies that suggest that using one single error-correcting code (ECC) designed to meet the worst case requirement is inefficient in terms of energy consumption when there are many heterogeneous nodes in the network. These works extend the classical Shannon theory and incorporate circuit energy and signal transmit energy to optimize total energy/power consumption of today’s communication systems. Then, we survey recent work on designing adaptive ECCs to operate energy efficiently even in the presence of extremely large heterogeneity in requirements and conditions. Two constructions of energy-adaptive codes are summarized: energy-adaptive low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and energy-adaptive polar codes. These constructions have shown theoretically and empirically that having adaptivity in code design can save substantial energy, especially when the network has very diverse communication scenarios. Finally, we suggest a few possible applications where energy-adaptive codes can be employed and outline interesting future directions and challenges.