Segmentation mechanism for a block encoder and method for encoding with a block encoder

The invention relates to methods and equipment for block encoders. As is well known, block encoders are frequently used for error correction. An example of a block encoder is a so-called turbo (en)coder, as disclosed in reference . A method encodes an input data block with a block encoder. The block encoder is capable of processing consecutive coding blocks whose size has an upper limit which is smaller than the size of the input data block. The method comprises: determining the length of the input data block before encoding any of its data with the block encoder; dividing the input data block to a plurality of segments wherein all segments are of substantially equal size and no segment is larger than the upper limit; and processing each segment with the block encoder. If the last segment is shorter than the remaining segments, fill bits can be added to the last segment such that its length equals that of the remaining segments.