Robust, efficient and balanced (REB) rate-compatible puncturing schemes, for hybrid ARQ algorithms using turbo codes

In this paper, we propose and evaluate rate-compatible puncturing schemes for turbo codes for Forward Error Correction / Automatic Repeat Request (FEC/ARQ) algorithms, in which the data transmission is supposed to go on progressively. The aim is 1) to obtain a better performance w.r.t. hybrid ARQ schemes already proposed in the literature when the user has to cope with some random packet erasures due, e. g., to deep fading conditions on wireless links, or to congestion on wired networks, i.e., when the number of lost data packets (erasures on an erasure channel) is hard to predict; 2) to obtain a performance comparable to one of the most efficient hybrid ARQ schemes proposed in the literature when all the packets are available to the final user, even if seriously corrupted, as on a pure wireless link. To obtain an unbiased comparison of the different schemes, an analytical method based on the sphere-packing bound is employed. To assess the accuracy of the bound, simulation results are also presented.