Block Toeplitz matrices for burst-correcting convolutional codes

In this paper we study a problem in the area of coding theory. In particular, we focus on a class of error-correcting codes called convolutional codes. We characterize convolutional codes that can correct bursts of erasures with the lowest possible delay. This characterization is given in terms of a block Toeplitz matrix with entries in a finite field that is built upon a given generator matrix of the convolutional code. This result allows us to provide a concrete construction of a generator matrix of a convolutional code with entries being only zeros or ones that can recover bursts of erasures with low delay. This construction admits a very simple decoding algorithm and, therefore, simplifies the existing schemes proposed recently in the literature.