RCPTCs are a type of error-correcting code used in communication systems to ensure reliable data transmission over noisy channels.
They are an extension of Turbo codes, which were first introduced by Berrou, Glavieux, and Thitimajshima in 1993.
Rate Compatibility:
RCPTCs exhibit an essential feature called rate compatibility. This property makes them suitable for implementing variable-rate error control systems using a single encoder/decoder pair.
The codes are obtained by puncturing a single low-rate mother code.
Design Criteria:
To construct good systematic RCPTC families, we extend the design considerations presented by S. Benedetto et al. (1998) for turbo code construction.
Specifically, we search for good rate-compatible puncturing patterns for a given interleaver length.
This approach leads to codes that improve over previous ones in both the maximum-likelihood sense (using transfer function bounds) and the iterative decoding sense (through simulation results).
Applications:
RCPTCs find applications in:
Hybrid Incremental ARQ/FEC schemes: Combining automatic repeat request (ARQ) with forward error correction (FEC) for efficient error recovery.
Unequal Error Protection: Achieving different levels of error protection (different code rates) for various parts or blocks of an information sequence.