Fountain Code Design for Broadcasting Systems with Intermediate-State Users

Several studies on fountain codes have proposed degree distribution optimization schemes to maximize symbol recovery rate. However, if the number of transmitted coded symbols is limited or the channel erasure probability is high, it may be impossible that a user recovers all of the data symbols regardless of degree distribution employed by the source. In this study, we focus on a new system model where one source transmits fountain-coded symbols to multiple users who already possess some data symbols and coded symbols. Assuming that each user can transmit a feedback packet containing its own state information before the source transmits coded symbols, we propose two types of degree distribution design schemes that are suitable for the system model. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed schemes by comparing with conventional methods in terms of symbol recovery rate and full recovery rate.