RCPC codes performance analysis using non-punctured equivalent convolutional codes

Rate Compatible Punctured Convolutional (RCPC) code is a sub-class of convolutional code which allows varied levels of data protection to suit different types of data. RCPC is becoming extensively used in telecommunication systems as it offers bandwidth efficiency and simpler hardware implementation compared to convolutional coding, with comparable performance. RCPC codes are attained by puncturing several of the redundancy bits of convolutional codes. As accurate analysis of the bit error probability for a punctured convolutional encoder using state diagram and transfer function is not a straightforward process, in this paper we use nonpunctured equivalent convolutional code to represent the punctured code. There are numerous puncturing patterns to yield RCPC codes from certain convolutional mother code. Our simulation results in AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels show that the same code rates yielded by different puncturing patterns will result in different code performance. Therefore, puncturing pattern is one of the key considerations in generating an RCPC code as it markedly affects the code performance.