A noisy communication channel uses convolutional coding. What happens to the effective channel capacity as the constraint length of the convolutional code increases, assuming a fixed code rate?

💡 Explanation

As the constraint length increases, the Viterbi decoder can utilize more information to correct errors, thus improving the effective signal-to-noise ratio. Because channel capacity is a function of the signal-to-noise ratio, the capacity approaches the ideal Shannon limit; therefore the capacity increases, rather than remaining static or decreasing.

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