New table-switching and data-multiplexing schemes of rate-compatible punctured convolutional codes for unequal error protection

Abstract

In this letter, rate-compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) codes are further investigated for the application to unequal error protection (UEP). Besides the rate-compatible restriction, we show that puncturing tables should be switched in a special way called soft-switching to guarantee the designed UEP performance. A new data-multiplexing scheme is also proposed for RCPC codes which can achieve similar UEP performance as the conventional scheme but requires no extra zero-padding for frame termination to improve the system throughput.