Syllabus
1. Basic properties of finite automata - finite automata, regular expressions, Kleene's theorem
2. Convolutional codes and their algebraic structure - representation by transition diagram and trellis, properties of generating matrices and their realization, minimal encoders
3. Performance - free distance of the code, error-probability bounds
4. Decoding - Viterbi algorithm, sequential decoding, iterative decoding.
Annotation
Course is an introduction into convolutional codes. Description of encoders is facilitated by an overview of finite automata.
The algebraic structure of convolutional codes is explored, as well as its performance and basic decoding methods.