Automorphism-based polar encoding and decoding

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of data encoding and decoding, and particularly to automorphism-based polar encoding and decoding apparatuses and methods, as well as computer program products embodying the method steps in the form of computer codes. More specifically, it is proposed to design polar codes such that their frozen bits support automorphisms described by a binary upper triangular matrix having a diagonal including at least one of zeros and units. Codewords generated using these polar codes may be subsequently subjected to automorphism-based polar decoding in an efficient manner and with a lower decoding latency compared to the conventional Successive Cancellation List decoding algorithms. Furthermore, the efficiency of the automorphism-based polar decoding may be increased even more if the automorphisms are based on matrix elements arranged above the diagonal in a vicinity of a bottom right corner of the binary upper triangular matrix.