  A general class of the almost instantaneous fixed-to-variable-length (AIFV)
codes is proposed, which contains every possible binary code we can make when
allowing finite bits of decoding delay. The contribution of the paper lies in
the following. (i) Introducing $N$-bit-delay AIFV codes, constructed by
multiple code trees with higher flexibility than the conventional AIFV codes.
(ii) Proving that the proposed codes can represent any uniquely-encodable and
uniquely-decodable variable-to-variable length codes. (iii) Showing how to
express codes as multiple code trees with minimum decoding delay. (iv)
Formulating the constraints of decodability as the comparison of intervals in
the real number line. The theoretical results in this paper are expected to be
useful for further study on AIFV codes.
