Decoding of MDP Convolutional Codes over the Erasure Channel under Linear Systems Point of View

Abstract

This paper attempts to highlight the decoding capabilities of MDP convolutional codes over the erasure channel by defining them as discrete linear dynamical systems, with which the controllability property and the observability characteristics of linear system theory can be applied, in particular those of output observability, easily described using matrix language. Those are viewed against the decoding capabilities of MDS block codes over the same channel. Not only is the time complexity better but the decoding capabilities are also increased with this approach because convolutional codes are more flexible in handling variable-length data streams than block codes, where they are fixed-length and less adaptable to varying data lengths without padding or other adjustments.