On variable-length error-correcting codes

Abstract

A different viewpoint on variable-length error correcting (VLEC) codes is presented, as compared to that found in the literature. Consequently, a maximum likelihood decoding algorithm for binary VLEC codes over the binary symmetric channel (BSC) is derived. It is shown that this algorithm achieves significant coding gain over the /spl alpha/-prompt decoding introduced by Hartnett et. Al. (1990), at the expense of increased complexity.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>