On the Union Bounds of Self-Concatenated Convolutional Codes

In this contribution, the union bounds of self-concatenated convolutional codes (SECCCs) are derived for communications over both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels. The truncated union bounds of SECCCs are very useful for studying the corresponding bit error ratio (BER) floors. Based on the truncated union bounds, various SECCCs can be designed for a desired BER floor without the need of time-consuming Monte Carlo simulations.