On optimal extended row distance profile

In this paper, we investigate extended row distances of Unit Memory (UM) convolutional codes. In particular, we derive upper and lower bounds for these distances and moreover present a concrete construction of a UM convolutional code that almost achieves the derived upper bounds. The generator matrix of these codes is built by means of a particular class of matrices, called superregular matrices. We actually conjecture that the construction presented is optimal with respect to the extended row distances as it achieves the maximum extended row distances possible. This in particular implies that the upper bound derived is not completely tight. The results presented in this paper further develop the line of research devoted to the distance properties of convolutional codes which has been mainly focused on the notions of free distance and column distance. Some open problems are left for further research