Factor graph
A factor graph is a bipartite graph representing the factorization of a function. In probability theory and its applications, factor graphs are used to represent factorization of a probability distribution function, enabling efficient computations, such as the computation of marginal distributions through the sum-product algorithm. One of the important success stories of factor graphs and the sum-product algorithm is the decoding of capacity-approaching error-correcting codes, such as LDPC and turbo codes.
Factor graphs generalize constraint graphs. A factor whose value is either 0 or 1 is called a constraint. A constraint graph is a factor graph where all factors are constraints. The max-product algorithm for factor graphs can be viewed as a generalization of the arc-consistency algorithm for constraint processing.
A factor graph is a bipartite graph representing the factorization of a function. Given a factorization of a function ,
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