Combining variable length codes and turbo codes

We propose a joint source-channel coding system which utilizes turbo codes and reversible variable length codes (RVLCs). Particular attention is given to the construction of RVLCs with good error-correcting properties, in order to assure good performance in the error floor region. Furthermore, we design an iterative joint source-channel decoder, which exhibits decoding convergence at a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The proposed system exhibits superior performance at all SNR levels, relative to a standard system that involves turbo codes and Huffman codes.