#!/usr/bin/env perl

use 5.010;
use strict;
use warnings;

my $soh_string = 'soh_string<SOH>';
my $caret_a_string = 'caret_a_string^A';
my $ctrl_a_string = 'ctrl_a_string' . chr(1);

my $test_string = join('',
    $soh_string, $caret_a_string, $ctrl_a_string,
    $caret_a_string, $ctrl_a_string, $soh_string,
    $ctrl_a_string, $soh_string, $caret_a_string
);

my $string_re = qr{(?><SOH>|\^A|\cA)};

say for split $string_re => $test_string;