Abstract
Maximum distance profile codes are characterized by the property that two trajectories which start at the same state and proceed to a different state will have the maximum possible minimum distance from each other relative to any other convolutional code of the same rate and degree.
In this paper we use methods from systems theory to characterize maximum distance profile codes algebraically. The main result shows that maximum distance profile codes form a generic set inside the variety which parametrizes the set of convolutional codes of a fixed rate and a fixed degree.