The optimal puncturing pattern design for rate-compatible punctured Turbo codes

In this paper, the puncturing pattern design criteria for rate-compatible punctured Turbo (RCPT) codes are reviewed at first. Then the optimal puncturing pattern design problem for RCPT codes are highlighted for Turbo codes with specific interleaver instead of the uniform interleaver assumption. By employing the constrained subcode algorithm to calculate the low weight spectrum sequence, the optimized weight spectrum sequence (OWSS) criterion is utilized to determine the optimal puncturing pattern. Two algorithms are utilized to realize the OWSS design criterion for both the periodic puncturing pattern design and the non-periodic puncturing pattern design. And simulation results are presented to validate the performance for the long term evolution (LTE) standard Turbo codes. The analysis in this paper unveils that, non-periodic puncturing pattern design will always outperform the periodic puncturing pattern design. However, the performance difference between the periodic puncturing and the non-periodic puncturing will tend to be negligible with the increase in the puncturing period. As a conclusion, when the simplified implementation in practical application is concerned, it seems that the periodic puncturing pattern with long enough puncturing period is recommended.