  Partial Unit Memory (PUM) codes are a special class of convolutional codes,
which are often constructed by means of block codes. Decoding of PUM codes may
take advantage of existing decoders for the block code. The Dettmar--Sorger
algorithm is an efficient decoding algorithm for PUM codes, but allows only low
code rates. The same restriction holds for several known PUM code
constructions. In this paper, an arbitrary-rate construction, the analysis of
its distance parameters and a generalized decoding algorithm for PUM codes of
arbitrary rate are provided. The correctness of the algorithm is proven and it
is shown that its complexity is cubic in the length.
