A method of integrating error control and constrained sequence codes

In this paper we present a new method of integrating constrained sequence (CS) and error control (EC) codes for digital communication systems. In our technique, encoded sequences are constructed such that they contain the required redundancy for error control while also exhibiting the characteristics required of constrained sequences. These sequences are constructed by distributing the EC parity bits throughout the CS coded sequence so that decoding can be performed with standard error control decoding techniques followed by constrained sequence decoding. This decoding structure avoids the problem of CS error propagation when CS decoding is performed prior to EC decoding.