Tight bounds for LDPC and LDGM codes under MAP decoding

A new method for analyzing low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and low-density generator-matrix (LDGM) codes under bit maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) decoding is introduced. The method is based on a rigorous approach to spin glasses developed by Francesco Guerra. It allows one to construct lower bounds on the entropy of the transmitted message conditional to the received one. Based on heuristic statistical mechanics calculations, we conjecture such bounds to be tight. The result holds for standard irregular ensembles when used over binary-input output-symmetric (BIOS) channels. The method is first developed for Tanner-graph ensembles with Poisson left-degree distribution. It is then generalized to "multi-Poisson" graphs, and, by a completion procedure, to arbitrary degree distribution.