Combined coding and spreading in CDMA systems using maximum free distance convolutional codes

In CDMA systems maximum theoretical performance can be obtained by spreading with low-rate error control codes. Previously, orthogonal and superorthogonal codes have been proposed for this purpose. We present a family of rate-compatible low-rate convolutional codes with maximum free distance. The performance of these codes for spectrum spreading in a CDMA system is evaluated and shown to outperform that of orthogonal and superorthogonal codes as well as conventional coding/spreading schemes. We also show that our low-rate codes will give simple encoder and decoder implementation. With these codes any 1/n rate can be obtained regardless of the constraint length, resulting in a more flexible and powerful scheme than those proposed up to now.