Patent ID: 7487410

Claim:
A decoding method, comprising: detecting a synchronization code inserted at a position selected from a plurality of synchronization code inserting positions, the plurality of synchronization code inserting positions being positioned at periodic intervals in an input code string, the input code string including a multiplexed code string and information indicative of a delimiter of the multiplexed code string, the information being arranged just after the multiplexed code string or between the multiplexed code string and a subsequent synchronization code, the information including a stuffing code having a bit length between one and eight bits, a start bit of the stuffing code having a first value, and if a subsequent bit of the stuffing code is present, the subsequent bit having a second value that is different than the first value; demultiplexing said input code string on the basis of the position of the synchronization code detected by said detecting, to produce kinds of compressed codes; and decoding said compressed codes to output a reconstructed signal, each of the kinds of compressed codes being a variable length code.