  In this paper, we deal with time-invariant spatially coupled low-density
parity-check convolutional codes (SC-LDPC-CCs). Classic design approaches
usually start from quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) block codes
and exploit suitable unwrapping procedures to obtain SC-LDPC-CCs. We show that
the direct design of the SC-LDPC-CCs syndrome former matrix or, equivalently,
the symbolic parity-check matrix, leads to codes with smaller syndrome former
constraint lengths with respect to the best solutions available in the
literature. We provide theoretical lower bounds on the syndrome former
constraint length for the most relevant families of SC-LDPC-CCs, under
constraints on the minimum length of cycles in their Tanner graphs. We also
propose new code design techniques that approach or achieve such theoretical
limits.
