Systems and methods for HARQ retransmission using an outer code

A network device comprising:

• a transmitter and an encoder;
• the encoder to:
• receive bits partitioned into m information blocks, and encode each information block of the m information blocks to obtain a respective encoded code block, wherein m>1;
• the transmitter to transmit the m encoded code blocks;
• the encoder further to compute N parity blocks from the m information blocks, wherein each one of the N parity blocks is to be generated by an XOR operation of a respective set of m words, wherein each one of the m words is either the same as a respective one of the m information blocks or a result of a cyclic shift of the respective one of the m information blocks, and wherein for at least one of the N parity blocks:
• at least one of the m words is the result of a cyclic shift of one of the m information blocks, wherein 1<N≤m;
• the encoder further to encode each parity block of the N parity blocks to obtain N encoded parity code blocks;
• and
• the transmitter further to transmit the N encoded parity code blocks.

A method performed by a network device, the method comprising:

• receiving m encoded code blocks, each one of the m encoded code blocks corresponding to a respective information block that has been encoded, wherein m>1;
• decoding the m encoded code blocks;
• in response to the decoding resulting in N≤m incorrectly decoded information blocks:
• transmitting feedback indicating that there was a quantity N of incorrectly decoded information blocks, without identifying which ones of the m encoded code blocks were incorrectly decoded;
• receiving encoded parity blocks, wherein the number of the encoded parity blocks received equals the quantity N indicated in the feedback;
• decoding the N encoded parity blocks to obtain N parity blocks;
• decoding the N incorrectly decoded information blocks using the N parity blocks.

A network device comprising:

• a transmitter, a receiver, and a decoder;
• the receiver to receive m encoded blocks, each one of the m encoded blocks corresponding to a respective information block that has been encoded, wherein m>1;
• the decoder to decode the m encoded blocks;
• in response to the decoding resulting in N≤m incorrectly decoded information blocks:
• the transmitter to transmit feedback indicating that there was a quantity N of incorrectly decoded information blocks, without identifying which ones of the m encoded blocks were incorrectly decoded;
• the receiver to receive encoded parity blocks, wherein the number of the encoded parity blocks received equals the quantity N indicated in the feedback;
• the decoder to decode the N encoded parity blocks to obtain N parity blocks;
• the decoder further to decode the N incorrectly decoded information blocks using the N parity blocks.