On Decoding High-Order Interleaved Sum-Rank-Metric Codes

Abstract: We consider decoding of vertically homogeneous interleaved sum-rank-metric codes with high interleaving order $s$, that are constructed by stacking $s$ codewords of a single constituent code. We propose a Metzner--Kapturowski-like decoding algorithm that can correct errors of sum-rank weight $t <= d-2$, where $d$ is the minimum distance of the code, if the interleaving order $s > t$ and the error matrix fulfills a certain rank condition. The proposed decoding algorithm generalizes the Metzner--Kapturowski(-like) decoders in the Hamming metric and the rank metric and has a computational complexity of $\tilde{O}(\max(n^3, n^2 s))$ operations in $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$, where $n$ is the length of the code. The scheme performs linear-algebraic operations only and thus works for any interleaved linear sum-rank-metric code. We show how the decoder can be used to decode high-order interleaved codes in the skew metric. Apart from error control, the proposed decoder allows to determine the security level of code-based cryptosystems based on interleaved sum-rank metric codes.