BCH Codes

Yunghsiang S. Han

Graduate Institute of Communication Engineering,

National Taipei University
Taiwan
E-mail: yshan@mail.ntpu.edu.tw

Y. S. Han

BCH codes

Description of BCH Codes

The Bose, Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem (BCH) codes form a
large class of powerful random error-correcting cyclic codes.
This class of codes is a remarkable generalization of the
Hamming code for multiple-error correction.
We only consider binary BCH codes in this lecture note.
Non-binary BCH codes such as Reed-Solomon codes will be
discussed in next lecture note.
For any positive integers m 3 and t < 2m1 , there exists a
binary BCH code with the following parameters:
Block length:
Number of parity-check digits:
Minimum distance:

n = 2m 1

n k mt

dmin 2t + 1.

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BCH codes

We call this code a t-error-correcting BCH code.

Let be a primitive element in GF (2m ). The generator
polynomial g(x) of the t-error-correcting BCH code of length
2m 1 is the lowest-degree polynomial over GF (2) which has
, 2 , 3 , . . . , 2t
as its roots.
g(i ) = 0 for 1 i 2t and g(x) has , 2 , . . . , 2t and their
conjugates as all its roots.
Let i (x) be the minimal polynomial of i . Then g(x) must be
the least common multiple of 1 (x), 2 (x), . . . , 2t (x), i.e.,
g(x) = LCM{1 (x), 2 (x), . . . , (x)2t }.
If i is an even integer, it can be expressed as i = i" 2! , where i" is
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BCH codes

odd and " > 1. Then =

i (x) = i! (x).

"2!

i!

is a conjugate of . Hence,

g(x) = LCM{1 (x), 3 (x), . . . , 2t1 (x)}.

The degree of g(x) is at most mt. That is, the number of
parity-check digits, n k, of the code is at most equal to mt.
If t is small, n k is exactly equal to mt.
Since is a primitive element, the BCH codes defined are usually
called primitive (or narrow-sense) BCH codes.

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BCH codes

Example
Let be a primitive element of GF (24 ) such that 1 + + 4 = 0.
The minimal polynomials of , 3 , and 5 are
1 (x)

1 + x + x4 ,

3 (x)

1 + x + x2 + x3 + x4 ,

5 (x)

1 + x + x2 ,

respectively. The double-error-correcting BCH code of length

n = 24 1 = 15 is generated by
g(x)

LCM{1 (x), 3 (x)}

(1 + x + x4 )(1 + x + x2 + x3 + x4 )

1 + x4 + x6 + x7 + x8 .

n k = 8 such that this is a (15, 7, 5) code. Since the weight of

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

the generator polynomial is 5, it is a (15, 7, 5) code.

The triple-error-correcting BCH code of length 15 is generated by
g(x) =

LCM{1 (x), 3 (x), 5 (x)}

(1 + x + x4 )(1 + x + x2 + x3 + x4 )(1 + x + x2 )

1 + x + x2 + x4 + x5 + x8 + x10 .

n k = 10 such that this is a (15, 5, 7) code. Since the weight

of the generator polynomial is 7, it is a (15, 5, 7) code.
The single-error-correcting BCH code of length 2m 1 is a
Hamming code.

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BCH codes





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BCH codes

Examples of Finite Fields





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BCH codes

BCH Codes of Lengths Less than 210 1 (1)

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

BCH Codes of Lengths Less than 210 1 (2)

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

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BCH codes

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BCH codes

Minimal Polynomials of the Elements in GF (26 )

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BCH codes

Generator Polynomials of All BCH Codes of Length 63

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

Parity-Check Matrix of a BCH Code

We can define a t-error-correcting BCH code of length
n = 2m 1 in the following manner: A binary n-tuple
v = (v0 , v1 , . . . , vn1 ) is a code word if and only if the polynomial
v(x) = v0 + v1 x + + vn1 xn1 has , 2 , . . . , 2t as roots.
Since i is a root of v(x) for 1 i 2t, then
v(i ) = v0 + v1 i + v2 2i + + vn1 (n1)i = 0.

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

This equality can be written as a matrix product as follows:

2i

=0
(v0 , v1 , . . . , vn1 )

..

(n1)i
for 1 i 2t.

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(1)

Y. S. Han

BCH codes

Let

H=

( )

( )

( )

1
..
.

(3 )

(3 )2

(3 )3

(2t )

(2t )2

(2t )3

2 2

2 3

16

n1

2 n1

( )

(3 )n1
..
.

(2t )n1

(2)

From (1), if v = (v0 , v1 , . . . , vn1 ) is a code word in the

t-error-correcting BCH code, then
v H T = 0.
If an n-tuple v satisfies the above condition, i is a root of the
polynomial v(x). Therefore, v must be a code word in the
t-error-correcting BCH code.
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BCH codes

17

H is a parity-check matrix of the code.

If for some i and j, j is a conjugate of i , then v(j ) = 0 if and
only if v(i ) = 0.
The H matrix can be reduced to

2
3

1
(3 )
(3 )2
(3 )3

5
5 2
5 3
1
(
)
(
)
(
)
H=

.
..

1 (2t1 ) (2t1 )2 (2t1 )3

n1

3 n1

( )

(5 )n1
..
.

(2t1 )n1

If each entry of H is replaced by its corresponding m-tuple over

GF (2) arranged in column form, we obtain a binary parity-check
matrix for the code.
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BCH codes

18

BCH Bound
The t-error-correcting BCH code defined has minimum distance
at least 2t + 1.
Proof: We need to show that no 2t of fewer columns of H sum
to zero. Suppose that there exists a nonzero code vector v with
weight 2t. Let vj1 , vj2 , . . . , vj be the nonzero components of
v. Then
0

v HT

j1

j2

j
3
= (vj1 , vj2 , . . . , vj )

.
..

2 j1

( )

2 j2

( )

(2 )j3
..
.
(2 )j

2t j1

( )

2t j2

( )

(2t )j3
..
.

(2t )j

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BCH codes

j1

j2

j
3
(1, 1, . . . , 1)

.
..

j1 2

( )

j2 2

( )

(j3 )2
..
.
(j )2

19

j1 2t

( )

j2 2t

( )

(j3 )2t
..
.

(j )2t

The equality above implies the following equality:

j1
j1 2
j1

( ) ( )

j2 (j2 )2 (j2 )

j
j3 2
j3
3

( ) ( ) = 0,
(1, 1, . . . , 1)

.
..
..

..
.
.

j (j )2 (j )

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

which the second matrix on the left is a square matrix. To

satisfy the above equality, the determinant of the matrix
must be zero. That is,
)
)
) j1 (j1 )2 (j1 ) )
)
)
)
)
j
j
2
j

) 2 ( 2 ) ( 2 ) )
)
)
) j
)
) 3 (j3 )2 (j3 ) ) = 0.
)
)
) .
)
..
..
) ..
)
.
.
)
)
)
)
) j (j )2 (j ) )

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Y. S. Han

BCH codes

Then

j1 +j2 ++j

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
))
)
)
)
)
)

j1

j2

1
..
.

j3
..
.

21

j1 (1)

j2 (1)

j3 (1)
..
.

j (1)

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
) = 0.
)
)
)
)
)
)

The determinant in the equality above is a Vandermonde

determinant which is nonzero. Contradiction!
The parameter 2t + 1 is usually called the designed distance of
the t-error-correcting BCH code.
The true minimum distance of the code might be larger than
2t + 1.

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BCH codes

Syndrome Calculation
Let

r(x) = r0 + r1 x + r2 x2 + + rn1 xn1

be the received vector and e(x) the error pattern. Then

r(x) = v(x) + e(x).
The syndrome is a 2t-tuple,
S = (S1 , S2 , . . . , S2t ) = r H T ,
where H is given by (2).

Si = r(i ) = r0 + r1 i + r2 2i + + rn1 (n1)i

for 1 i 2t.
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BCH codes

Dividing r(x) by the minimal polynomial i (x) of i , we have

r(x) = ai (x)i (x) + bi (x),
where bi (x) is the remainder with degree less than that of i (x).
Since i (i ) = 0, we have
Si = r(i ) = bi (i ).
Since 1 , 2 , . . . , 2t are roots of each code polynomial, v(i ) = 0
for 1 i 2t.
Then Si = e(i ) for 1 i 2t.
We now consider a general case that is also good for non-binary
case.
Suppose that the error pattern e(x) has v errors at locations
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BCH codes

24

0 j1 < j2 < < jv n. That is,

e(x) = ej1 xj1 + ej2 xj2 + + ejv xjv .

S1

S2

S3
..
.

S2t

ej1 j1 + ej2 j2 + + ejv jv

ej1 (j1 )2 + ej2 (j2 )2 + + ejv (jv )2

ej1 (j1 )3 + ej2 (j2 )3 + + ejv (jv )3

ej1 (j1 )2t + ej2 (j2 )2t + + ejv (jv )2t ,

(3)

where ej1 , ej2 , . . . , ejv , and j1 , j2 , . . . , jv are unknown.

Any method for solving these equations is a decoding algorithm
for the BCH codes.
Let Yi = eji , Xi = ji , 1 i v.
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BCH codes

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(3) can be rewritten as follows:

S1

S2

S3
..
.

S2t

Y 1 X1 + Y 2 X 2 + + Y v Xv

Y1 X12 + Y2 X22 + + Yv Xv2

Y1 X13 + Y2 X23 + + Yv Xv3
Y1 X12t + Y2 X22t + + Yv Xv2t .

(4)

We need to transfer the above set of non-linear equations into a

set of linear equations.
Consider the error-locator polynomial
(x)

=
=

(1 X1 x)(1 X2 x) (1 Xv x)
1 + 1 x + 2 x2 + + v xv .

Multiplying (5) by Yi Xij+v , where 1 j v, and set x = Xi1

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(5)

Y. S. Han

BCH codes

26

we have
0=

Yi Xij+v

for 1 i v.

*
+
1
2
v
1 + 1 Xi + 2 X i + + v X i
.

Summing all above v equations, we have

v
!
"
,
j+v
j+v1
j
0 =
Y i X i + 1 X i
+ + v X i
=

i=1
v
,
i=1

Yi Xij+v + 1

v
,
i=1

Yi Xij+v1 + + v

v
,

Yi Xij

i=1

Sj+v + 1 Sj+v1 + 2 Sj+v2 + + v Sj .

We have
1 Sj+v1 + 2 Sj+v2 + + v Sj = Sj+v
for 1 j v.
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BCH codes

Putting the above equations into

S
S2
Sv1
Sv
1

S3

Sv
Sv+1
S2

..
.

Sv

Sv+1

S2v2

S2v1

27

matrix form we have

v
Sv+1

v1 Sv+2

..
.. =
.
.

S2v

. (6)

Since v t, S1 , S2 , . . . , S2v are all known. Then we can solve for

1 , 2 , . . . , v .

We still need to find the smallest v such that the above system of
equations has a unique solution.

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BCH codes

28

Let the matrix of syndromes, M , be defined as

S
S2

Su
1

S3
Su+1
S2

M = .
..
..
..
.
.

Su

Su+1

S2u1

follows:

M is nonsingular if u is equal to v, the number of errors that

actually occurred. M is singular if u > v.
Proof: Let

A=

X1
..
.

X2
..
.

X1u1

X2u1

Xu
..
.

Xuu1

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BCH codes

with Aij = Xji1 and

B=

Y1 X 1

0
..
.

Y2 X 2
..
.

29

0
..
.

Y u Xu

with Bij = Yi Xi ij , where

1
ij =
0

We have
*

+
T
ABA ij

u
,
!=1

i=j
i %= j

X!i1

u
,

Y! X! !k Xkj1

k=1

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BCH codes

=
=

u
,
!=1
u
,

X!i1 Y! X! X!j1
Y! X!i+j1 = Mij .

!=1

Hence, M = ABAT . If u > v, then det(B) = 0 and then

det(M ) = det(A) det(B) det(AT ) = 0. If u = v, then det(B) %= 0.
Since A is a Vandermonde matrix with Xi %= Xj , i %= j,
det(A) %= 0. Hence, det(M ) %= 0.

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BCH codes

The Peterson-Gorenstein-Zierler Algorithm

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BCH codes

Example
Consider the triple-error-correcting (15, 5) BCH code with
g(x) = 1 + x + x2 + x4 + x5 + x8 + x10 . Assume that the received
vector is r(x) = x2 + x7 . The operating finite field is GF (24 ). Then
the syndromes can be calculated as follows:
S1

7 + 2 = 12

S2

14 + 4 = 9

S3

21 + 6 = 0

S4

28 + 8 = 3

S5

35 + 10 = 0 = 1

S6

42 + 12 = 0.

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BCH codes

33

Set v = 3, we have

det(M )

Set v = 2, we have
)
)
) S1
det(M ) = ))
) S2

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

S1

S2

S2

S3

S3

S4

12

)
S3 ))
)
S4 ))
)
S5 )

)
0 ))
)
3 ) = 0.
)
)
1 )

) )
) )
S2 ) ) 12
)=)
) )
S3 ) ) 9

)
)
9 )
) %= 0.
)
0 )

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BCH codes

We then calculate

Hence,

and

M 1 =
1

34

2
= M 1
=
1
3
12

(x)

=
=
=

1 + 12 x + 9 x2
*
+*
+
2
7
1+ x 1+ x
*
+*
+
9
8
13
x
x .

Since 1/8 = 7 and 1/13 = 2 , we found the error locations.

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