On the weight distribution of convolutional codes

Abstract

Detailed information about the weight distribution of a convolutional code is given by the adjacency matrix of the state diagram associated with a controller canonical form of the code. We will show that this matrix is an invariant of the code. Moreover, it will be proven that codes with the same adjacency matrix have the same dimension and the same Forney indices and finally that for one-dimensional binary convolutional codes the adjacency matrix determines the code uniquely up to monomial equivalence.