Error Detection

and
Correction

CH10

.Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display
 Note

Data can be corrupted

p
during transmission.

Some applications require that

errors be detected and corrected.
corrected

2
 10
10--1 INTRODUCTION

Let us first discuss some issues related, directly or

indirectly, to error detection and correction
correction..

Topics discussed in this section:

Types of Errors
Redundancy
D t ti V
Detection Versus C
Correction
ti
Forward Error Correction Versus Retransmission
Coding
Modular Arithmetic

3
Figure 10.1 Single-bit error

In a single-bit error, only 1 bit in the data

unitit has ch
hangedd.

4
Figure 10.2 Burst error of length 8

A burst error means that 2 or more bits

i the datta unit
in it have ch
hanged
d.

5
Figure 10.3 The structure of encoder and decoder

To detect or correct errors, we need to

sendd exttra (red
dund
dantt) bit
its with
ith datta.
6
Figure 10.4 XORing of two single bits or two words

7
10
10--2 BLOCK CODING

In block coding,
coding we divide our message into blocks,
blocks
each of k bits, called datawords
datawords.. We add r redundant
bits to each block to make the length n = k + r. The
resulting n-bit blocks are called codewords.
codewords.

Topics discussed in this section:

Error Detection
Error Correction
Hamming Distance
Minimum Hamming Distance

8
Figure 10.5 Datawords and codewords in block coding

9
 Example 10.1

The 4B/5B block coding discussed in Chapter 4 is a good

example of this type of coding. In this coding scheme,
k = 4 and n = 5. As we saw, we have 2k = 16 datawords
andd 2n = 32 codewords.
d d We saw thath 166 out off 32
codewords are used for message transfer and the rest are
either
i h usedd for
f other
h purposes or unused.d

10
Figure 10.6 Process of error detection in block coding

11
 Example 10.2

Let us assume that k = 2 and n = 3. Table 10.1 shows the

list of datawords and codewords. Later, we will see
how to derive a codeword from a dataword.

Assume the
A h sender
d encodesd the
h dataword
d d 01 as 011 andd
sends it to the receiver. Consider the following cases:

1. The receiver receives 011. It is a valid codeword. The

receiver
i extracts the
h dataword
d d 01 from
f i
it.

12
 Example 10.2 (continued)

2. The codeword is corrupted during transmission, and

111 is received. This is not a valid codeword and is
discarded.

3. The codeword is corrupted during transmission, and

000 is
i received.
i d This
hi is
i a valid
lid codeword.
d d The
h receiver
i
incorrectly extracts the dataword 00. Two corrupted
bi have
bits h made
d the
h error undetectable.
d bl

13
Table 10.1 A code for error detection (Example 10.2)

14
Figure 10.7 Structure of encoder and decoder in error correction

15
 Example 10.3

Let us add more redundant bits to Example 10.2 to see if

the receiver can correct an error without knowing what
was actually sent. We add 3 redundant bits to the 2-bit
d
dataword d to makek 5-bit
bi codewords.
d d Table
bl 10.2 shows
h the
h
datawords and codewords. Assume the dataword is 01.
The
h sender
d creates theh codeword
d d 01011.
01011 Theh codeword
d d is
i
corrupted during transmission, and 01001 is received.
Fi
First, the
h receiver
i fi d that
finds h the
h received
i d codeword
d d is
i not
in the table. This means an error has occurred. The
receiver,
i assuming
i that
h there
h i only
is l 1 bit
bi corrupted,
d uses
the following strategy to guess the correct dataword.

16
 Example 10.3 (continued)
1. Comparing the received codeword with the first
codeword in the table (01001 versus 00000), the
receiver decides that the first codeword is not the one
that was sent because there are two different bits.

2. By the same reasoning, the original codeword cannot

be the third or fourth one in the table.

3. The original codeword must be the second one in the

table because this is the only one that differs from the
received codeword by 1 bit. The receiver replaces
01001 with 01011 and consults the table to find the
dataword 01.
17
Table 10.2 A code for error correction (Example 10.3)

18
 Note

The Hamming distance between two

words
d is
i the
th number
b off differences
diff
between corresponding bits.

19
 Example 10.4

Let us find the Hamming distance between two pairs of

words.

1. The
h Hamming
i di
distance d(
d(000, 011)) is
i 2 because
b

2 The
2. Th Hamming
H i distance
di d(10101 11110) is
d(10101, i 3 because
b

20
Note

The minimum Hamming distance is the

smallest
ll t Hamming
H i distance
di t between
b t
all possible pairs in a set of words.

21
 Example 10.5

Find the minimum Hamming distance of the coding

scheme in Table 10.1.
Solution
We first find all Hamming distances.

The dmin in this case is 2.

22
 Example 10.6

Find the minimum Hamming distance of the coding

scheme in Table 10.2.

Solution
We first find all the Hamming distances.

The dmin in this case is 3.

23
Note

To guarantee the detection of up to s

errors in
i all
ll cases, the
th minimum
i i
Hamming distance in a block
code must be dmin = s + 1.

24
 Example 10.7

The minimum Hamming distance for our first code

scheme (Table 10.1) is 2. This code guarantees detection
of only a single error. For example, if the third codeword
(
(101)
) is
i sent andd one error occurs, the
h received
i d codeword
d d
does not match any valid codeword. If two errors occur,
h
however, the
h received
i d codeword
d d may match h a valid
lid
codeword and the errors are not detected.

25
 Example 10.8

Our second block code scheme (Table 10.2) has dmin = 3.

This code can detect up to two errors. Again, we see that
when any of the valid codewords is sent, two errors create
a codeword
d d which
hi h is
i not in
i the
h table
bl off valid
lid codewords.
d d
The receiver cannot be fooled.

However, some combinations of three errors change a

valid
lid codeword
d d to another
h valid
lid codeword.
d d The
Th receiver
i
accepts the received codeword and the errors are
undetected.
d d

26
Note

To guarantee correction of up to t errors

i all
in ll cases, the
th minimum
i i Hamming
H i
distance in a block code
must be dmin = 2t + 1.

27
 Example 10.9

A code scheme has a Hamming distance dmin = 4. What is

the error detection and correction capability of this
scheme?

Solution
This code guarantees the detection of up to three errors
(s = 3),
3) but it can correct up to one error.
error In other words,
words
if this code is used for error correction, part of its capability
is wasted.
wasted Error correction codes need to have an odd
minimum distance (3, 5, 7, . . . ).

28
10
10--3 LINEAR BLOCK CODES

Almost all block codes used today belong to a subset

called linear block codes
codes.. A linear block code is a code
in which the exclusive OR (addition modulo
modulo--2) of two
valid codewords creates another valid codeword
codeword..

Topics discussed in this section:

Minimum Distance for Linear Block Codes
Some Linear Block Codes

29
Note

A simple parity-check code is a

single-bit
i l bit error-detecting
d t ti
code in which
n = k + 1 with dmin = 2.

30
Table 10.3 Simple parity-check code C(5, 4)

31
Figure 10.10 Encoder and decoder for simple parity-check code

32
 Example 10.12

Let us look at some transmission scenarios. Assume the

sender sends the dataword 1011. The codeword created
from this dataword is 10111, which is sent to the receiver.
We examine
i five
fi cases:

1 No error occurs; the

1. h received
i d codeword
d d iis 10111.
10111 The h
syndrome is 0. The dataword 1011 is created.
2 One
2. O single-bit
i l bi error changes
h a1 . The
Th received
i d
codeword is 10011. The syndrome is 1. No dataword
i created.
is d
3. One single-bit error changes r0 . The received codeword
i 10110.
is 10110 The
Th syndrome
d is
i 1.
1 No
N ddataword d iis created.
d

33
 Example 10.12 (continued)

4. An error changes r0 and a second error changes a3 .

The received codeword is 00110. The syndrome is 0.
The dataword 0011 is created at the receiver. Note that
h
here the
h ddataword d iis wrongly
l createdd due
d to the h
syndrome value.
5. Three
h bi
bits—a3, a2, andd a1—are changed
h d bby errors.
The received codeword is 01011. The syndrome is 1.
Th dataword
The d d is
i not created.
d This
Thi shows
h that
h the
h simple
i l
parity check, guaranteed to detect one single error, can
also
l find
fi d any odd
dd numberb off errors.

34
10
10--4 CYCLIC CODES

Cyclic codes are special linear block codes with one

extra property.
property. In a cyclic code, if a codeword is
cyclically shifted (rotated)
(rotated), the result is another
codeword..
codeword

Topics discussed in this section:

Cyclic Redundancy Check
Hardware Implementation
Polynomials
Cyclic Code Analysis
Advantages of Cyclic Codes
Oth Cyclic
Other C li Codes
C d

35
 10 6 A CRC
T bl 10.6
Table C C code
d with
i h C(7,
C( 4)

36
Figure 10.14 CRC encoder and decoder

37
Figure 10.15 Division in CRC encoder

38
Figure 10.16 Division in the CRC decoder for two cases

39
10
10--5 CHECKSUM

Th last
The l t error detection
d t ti method
th d we discuss
di here
h i
is
called the checksum
checksum.. The checksum is used in the
Internet
I t t by
b severall protocols
t l although
lth h nott att the
th data
d t
link layer
layer.. However, we briefly discuss it here to
complete
l t our discussion
di i on error checking
h ki

Topics discussed in this section:

Idea
One’s Complement
Internet Checksum

40
 Example 10.18

Suppose our data is a list of five 4-bit numbers that we

want to send to a destination. In addition to sending these
numbers, we send the sum of the numbers. For example,
if the
h set off numbers
b is i (7,
( 11, 12, 0, 6),
6) we sendd (7,
( 11, 12,
0, 6, 36), where 36 is the sum of the original numbers.
The
h receiver
i adds
dd the
h five
fi numbers
b andd compares theh
result with the sum. If the two are the same, the receiver
assumes no error, accepts theh five
fi numbers,
b andd discards
di d
the sum. Otherwise, there is an error somewhere and the
d
data are not accepted.
d

41
 Example 10.19

We can make the job of the receiver easier if we send the

negative (complement) of the sum, called the checksum.
In this case, we send (7, 11, 12, 0, 6, −36). The receiver
can adddd allll the
h numbersb received
i d (including
(i l di the
h
checksum). If the result is 0, it assumes no error;
otherwise,
h i thereh i an error.
is

42
 Example 10.20

How can we represent the number 21 in one’s

complement arithmetic using only four bits?

Solution
The number 21 in binary is 10101 (it needs five bits). We
can wrap the leftmost bit and add it to the four rightmost
bits. We have (0101 + 1) = 0110 or 6.

43
 Example 10.21

How can we represent the number −6 in one’s

complement arithmetic using only four bits?

Solution
In one’s complement arithmetic, the negative or
complement of a number is found by inverting all bits. bits
Positive 6 is 0110; negative 6 is 1001. If we consider only
unsigned numbers,
numbers this is 9. 9 In other words,
words the
complement of 6 is 9. Another way to find the
complement of a number in one one’ss complement arithmetic
is to subtract the number from 2n − 1 (16 − 1 in this case).

44
 Example 10.22

Let us redo Exercise 10.19 using one’s complement

arithmetic Figure 10.24
arithmetic. 10 24 shows the process at the sender
and at the receiver. The sender initializes the checksum
to 0 and adds all data items and the checksum (the
checksum is considered as one data item and is shown in
color) The result is 36.
color). 36 However,
However 36 cannot be expressed
in 4 bits. The extra two bits are wrapped and added with
the sum to create the wrapped sum value 6.6 In the figure,
figure
we have shown the details in binary. The sum is then
complemented resulting in the checksum value 9 (15 − 6
complemented,
= 9). The sender now sends six data items to the receiver
including the checksum 9.9

45
 Example 10.22 (continued)

The receiver follows the same procedure as the sender. It

adds all data items (including the checksum); the result
is 45. The sum is wrapped and becomes 15. The wrapped
sum is
i complemented
l d andd becomes
b 0. Since
Si the
h value
l off
the checksum is 0, this means that the data is not
corrupted.
d The
h receiver
i d
drops the
h checksum
h k andd keeps
k
the other data items. If the checksum is not zero, the
entire
i packet
k is i dropped.
d d

46
Figure 10.24 Example 10.22

47
 Note

Sender site:
1. The
1 Th message is i divided
di id d into
i t 16-bit
16 bit words.
d
2. The value of the checksum word is set to 0.
3 All words
3. d including
i l di theth checksum
h k are
added using one’s complement addition.
4 The
4. Th sum isi complemented
l t d and d becomes
b the
th
checksum.
5 The checksum
5. checks m is sent with
ith the data.
data

48
 Note

Receiver site:
1 The
1. Th message (including
(i l di checksum)
h k ) is
i
divided into 16-bit words.
2 All words
2. d are added
dd d using
i one’s ’
complement addition.
3 The
3. Th sum is i complemented
l t d and d becomes
b the
th
new checksum.
4 If the
4. th value
l off checksum
h k is
i 0,
0 the
th message
is accepted; otherwise, it is rejected.

49
 Example 10.23

Let us calculate the checksum for a text of 8 characters

((“Forouzan”).
Forouzan ). The text needs to be divided into 22-byte byte
(16-bit) words. We use ASCII (see Appendix A) to change
each byte to a 22-digit
digit hexadecimal number. For example,
F is represented as 0x46 and o is represented as 0x6F.
Figure 10.25 shows how the checksum is calculated at the
sender and receiver sites. In part a of the figure, the value
of partial sum for the first column is 0x36. We keep the
rightmost digit (6) and insert the leftmost digit (3) as the
carry in the second column. The process is repeated for
each column. Note that if there is any corruption, the
cchecksum
ec su recalculated
ecalculated by tthee receiver
eceive is not
ot all 0s. We
leave this an exercise.
50
Figure 10.25 Example 10.23

51