Codes, automata, and continuous systems: Explicit interconnections

Close relationships are established between convolutional codes and zero-state automata and between cyclic codes and zero-input automata. Further, techniques of automata theory and continuous system theory are used to establish and interpret typical structural conditions in continuous systems. The investigation incorporates basic coding concepts into the currently emerging common basis for automata and continuous systems, and gives explicit examples of the resulting benefits accruing to each of these areas from the others.