  Self-synchronization under the presence of additive noise can be achieved by
allocating a certain number of bits of each codeword as markers for
synchronization. Difference systems of sets are combinatorial designs which
specify the positions of synchronization markers in codewords in such a way
that the resulting error-tolerant self-synchronizing codes may be realized as
cosets of linear codes. Ideally, difference systems of sets should sacrifice as
few bits as possible for a given code length, alphabet size, and
error-tolerance capability. However, it seems difficult to attain optimality
with respect to known bounds when the noise level is relatively low. In fact,
the majority of known optimal difference systems of sets are for exceptionally
noisy channels, requiring a substantial amount of bits for synchronization. To
address this problem, we present constructions for difference systems of sets
that allow for higher information rates while sacrificing optimality to only a
small extent. Our constructions utilize optimal difference systems of sets as
ingredients and, when applied carefully, generate asymptotically optimal ones
with higher information rates. We also give direct constructions for optimal
difference systems of sets with high information rates and error-tolerance that
generate binary and ternary self-synchronizing codes.
