Algebraic Codes For Error Correction In Digital Communication Systems

Access to the full-text thesis is no longer available at the author's request, due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Access removed on 29.11.2016 by CS (TIS).Metadata merged with duplicate record (http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/899) on 20.12.2016 by CS (TIS).C. Shannon presented theoretical conditions under which communication was possible error-free in the presence of noise. Subsequently the notion of using error correcting codes to mitigate the effects of noise in digital transmission was introduced by R. Hamming. Algebraic codes, codes described using powerful tools from algebra took to the fore early on in the search for good error correcting codes. Many classes of algebraic codes now exist and are known to have the best properties of any known classes of codes. An error correcting code can be described by three of its most important properties length, dimension and minimum distance. Given codes with the same length and dimension, one with the largest minimum distance will provide better error correction. As a result the research focuses on finding improved codes with better minimum distances than any known codes. Algebraic geometry codes are obtained from curves. They are a culmination of years of research into algebraic codes and generalise most known algebraic codes. Additionally they have exceptional distance properties as their lengths become arbitrarily large. Algebraic geometry codes are studied in great detail with special attention given to their construction and decoding. The practical performance of these codes is evaluated and compared with previously known codes in different communication channels. Furthermore many new codes that have better minimum distance to the best known codes with the same length and dimension are presented from a generalised construction of algebraic geometry codes. Goppa codes are also an important class of algebraic codes. A construction of binary extended Goppa codes is generalised to codes with nonbinary alphabets and as a result many new codes are found. This construction is shown as an efficient way to extend another well known class of algebraic codes, BCH codes. A generic method of shortening codes whilst increasing the minimum distance is generalised. An analysis of this method reveals a close relationship with methods of extending codes. Some new codes from Goppa codes are found by exploiting this relationship. Finally an extension method for BCH codes is presented and this method is shown be as good as a well known method of extension in certain cases

Simplified decoding techniques for linear block codes

Error correcting codes are combinatorial objects, designed to enable reliable transmission of digital data over noisy channels. They are ubiquitously used in communication, data storage etc. Error correction allows reconstruction of the original data from received word. The classical decoding algorithms are constrained to output just one codeword. However, in the late 50’s researchers proposed a relaxed error correction model for potentially large error rates known as list decoding. The research presented in this thesis focuses on reducing the computational effort and enhancing the efficiency of decoding algorithms for several codes from algorithmic as well as architectural standpoint. The codes in consideration are linear block codes closely related to Reed Solomon (RS) codes. A high speed low complexity algorithm and architecture are presented for encoding and decoding RS codes based on evaluation. The implementation results show that the hardware resources and the total execution time are significantly reduced as compared to the classical decoder. The evaluation based encoding and decoding schemes are modified and extended for shortened RS codes and software implementation shows substantial reduction in memory footprint at the expense of latency. Hermitian codes can be seen as concatenated RS codes and are much longer than RS codes over the same aphabet. A fast, novel and efficient VLSI architecture for Hermitian codes is proposed based on interpolation decoding. The proposed architecture is proven to have better than Kötter’s decoder for high rate codes. The thesis work also explores a method of constructing optimal codes by computing the subfield subcodes of Generalized Toric (GT) codes that is a natural extension of RS codes over several dimensions. The polynomial generators or evaluation polynomials for subfield-subcodes of GT codes are identified based on which dimension and bound for the minimum distance are computed. The algebraic structure for the polynomials evaluating to subfield is used to simplify the list decoding algorithm for BCH codes. Finally, an efficient and novel approach is proposed for exploiting powerful codes having complex decoding but simple encoding scheme (comparable to RS codes) for multihop wireless sensor network (WSN) applications

Algebraic Techniques for Low Communication Secure Protocols

Internet communication is often encrypted with the aid of mathematical problems that are hard to solve. Another method to secure electronic communication is the use of a digital lock of which the digital key must be exchanged first. PhD student Robbert de Haan (CWI) researched models for a guaranteed safe communication between two people without the exchange of a digital key and without assumptions concerning the practical difficulty of solving certain mathematical problems. In ancient times Julius Caesar used secret codes to make his messages illegible for spies. He upped every letter of the alphabet with three positions: A became D, Z became C, and so on. Usually, cryptographers research secure communication between two people through one channel that can be monitored by malevolent people. De Haan studied the use of multiple channels. A minority of these channels may be in the hands of adversaries that can intercept, replace or block the message. He proved the most efficient way to securely communicate along these channels and thus solved a fundamental cryptography problem that was introduced almost 20 years ago by Dole, Dwork, Naor and Yung