Non-minimum tensor rank Gabidulin codes

The tensor rank of some Gabidulin codes of small dimension is investigated. In particular, we determine the tensor rank of any rank metric code equivalent to an 8-dimensional Fq-linear generalized Gabidulin code in Fq4×4. This shows that such a code is never minimum tensor rank. In this way, we detect the first infinite family of Gabidulin codes which are not minimum tensor rank.