42 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, VOL.
1, FEBRUARY 1969
Aeronautical Lab., Inc., B~ffalo,N. Y., Rept. UA-1420-S-1,
Detect Memo. 2A, January 1961.
J . H. Halton and A. D. Spauldiug, “Error rates in differentially
coherent phase systems in non-Ga,rmsian noise,” IEEE Trans.
Communication Technology, vol. COM-14, pp. 594-601, October
1966.
W. 1V.Hubbard, “The effect of a finite-width decision thresh-
old on binary differentially coherent PSK systems,” Bell
Sys. Tech. J., vol. 45, pp. 307-319, February 1966.
-,“The effect of noise correlationon binary differentially
coherent PSK communication sy&ms,” Bell Sys. Tech. J.,
vol. 46, pp. 277-280, January 1967.
-,“The effect of intersymbol interference on error rate in
binary differentially coherent phase-shift-keyed systems,”
Bell Sys. Tech. J., vol. 46, pp. 1169-1172, July-August 1967.
E. Bedrosian and S. 0. Rice, “13istortion and crosstalk of
linearly filtered, angle-modulated signals,” Proc. IEEE, vol.
56, pp. 2-13, January 1968.
G. F. Montgomery, “A comparison of amplitudeand angle
modulation for narrow-bandcommunication of binary-coded
messages in fluctuation noise,” P ~ o c IfZE,
. vol. 42, pp. 447-
4.54, February 1954.
W. R. Bennett,“Methods of solving noise problems,” Proc.
IRE, vol. 44, pp. 609-638, May 1956.
W. B. Davenport and W. L. Root, Introduction to the Theory
of RandomSignalsandNoise. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1958.
An Application of Cyclic Coding to
Message Identification
DAVID NIANDELRAURIZ, MEMBER,
REFERENCE: Mandelbaum, D. : AN APPLICATION OF CYCLIC
CODING TO MESSAGEIDENTIFICATION, Avionics Labora-
tory, USAECOM, Fort Monmouth, N. J. 07703. Formerly with
Communication Systems, Inc., Paramus, N. J. Paper 68TP75-COM1
approved by theIEEE Communication TheoryCommittee for
publication without oral presentation. IEEE TRANS. ON COM-
MUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, 17-1, February 1969, pp. 42-48.
ABSTRACT : In certain digital communication systems data iscoded
into cyclic code words forerror correction or detection. To safeguard
certain aspects of the system, all the code words of a message may
have the sameidentifying pattern in a group of digits. This increases
the redundancy of the message. This paper proposes a method of
doing this using little or no redundancy. The message identification
(MI) would be contained in a code syndrome which is added toeach
code word (except the first) of the message. These syndromes are
ones that are unusedfor error correctio:n by the cyclic code. Simple
decoding procedures can determine if code words of different mes-
sages have been interchanged in certain parts of the system. Ran-
dom and burst error correction codes are examined to determine
suitable syndromes.
COM-17, NO.
Vasant K. Prabhu (S’64-M’66)
was born in
Kumta,India, on
May 13, 1939. He received the
B.Sc. (Hons.) degree from Kar-
natak University, Dhanvar, India,
in 1958, and the B.E. (Dist.)
degree in electrical communication
engineering from theIndianIn-
stitute of Science, Bangalore, India,
in 1962. He received the S.M. and
Sc.D. degrees from the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge,1963
in and 1966,
respectively.
At M.I.T. he was amember of
the Research Laboratory of Elec-
tronics, first as a Research Assistant and then as an Instrllctor in
electrical engineering. Presently he is a Member of the Technical
Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Holmdel, N. J. His areas
of interestare nonlinear systemstheory,communication theory,
network theory, solid-state microwave devices, noise theory,and
optical communication systems.
Dr. Prabhu is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, Sigma
S i , and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
IEEE
I. INTRODUCTION
I N CURRENT andproposed digitaldata communication
systems, messages are transmitted in groups of con-
tiguous cyclic code words. These code words contain re-
dundant or parity check bits for use in error correction.
These digital data communication systems, military or
commercial, may specify that each code word or block In ‘ a
given message contain information identifying a certain
aspect of that message. This information would be con-
stant over the whole message. Each code word would con-
tain the same pattern ina prescribed group of digits. As a
result, the message viewed as a whole would contain cer-
tain redundant data. This would consist of a subdivision of
each code word that contained the same data. Theposition
of this repeated data would be the same with respect to
the beginning of the code word. This information could be
such message identification flags as security of message,
priority of message, type of message, etc. For a particular
communication system, i t ma,y be necessary that each code
word contain this information so that any segment of the than the code generator G ( x ) ,but the corresponding error
message may be checked to see if the correct identification pattern E ( x ) may have greater degree.
is on each word.Ths method may beused to guard against A code that for some t has all patternsof weight t or less
substitution of a part of one message for aportionof and no others as coset leaders is called a perfect code [l].
another.Thissubstitution could possibly occur during The set of coset leaders are in one-to-one correspondence
switching of a message path or within computer memory with the set of syndromes.
in a store andforward message system. Also this block-by- If a code is t or less error correcting and is not perfect,
block identification would guard against a message being
processed by a portion of the system not authorized to
process this type of message.
then the number of syndromes is greater than
which is the number of error patterns having weight t or
xf=o (3
Thus it is seen that this identification repeated for each less.
code word is redundant for the message as a whole, but Thispaper presentsamethodwherebytheseunused
may be necessary for safeguarding certain aspects of this syndromescan be employed for message identification.
system. This paperproposes a method whereby features of Let ci be the set of unusedsyndromes, i.e., thosesyn-
certain cyclic codes can perform the same identifyingfunc- dromes u(z) that do not correspond to error patterns of
tion on each code word, but will not increase the redun- weight t or less. Assume there exists a subset of syndromes
dancy of the message or increase itj in a negligible manner. X such that the sum (modulo 2 ) of any two distinct syn-
I n most cyclic codes, there is some redundancy which is dromes within this set S is a syndrome in the setU .
not used for error correction but cannot be removed. This With each member of S we associate an RiII pattern.
unused redundancy will be employed in each code word of Suppose s ( x ) is suchasyndromerepresenting a specific
the message, but the first for the message identifying fea- MI. A given message is to be identified by this MI. The
tures described above. The first code word of a message first code word of the message will contain the syndrome
will explicitly show this message identification (MI) by s(x) in S associated with this MI in the information-bits
utilizing s of the information digits of the first code word portion. This pattern will occupy 72 - k - 1bits out of the
of the message for this purpose. In subsequent code words IC information bits. The following code words of this mes-
this MI will not explicitly appear as an s-digit pat,tern in sage will not contain this pattern explicitly in theinforma-
the information (nonredundant) digits. tion bits. Instead these bits will be used for other infor-
The method described herein will apply to binary codes. mation.However, before transmission,eachsuch code
The ext,ension t,o codes of any primc modulus is straight- word (except the first) will have added to it thesyndrome
forward. +
s(x). It, therefore, will have the form W , ( x ) ~ ( 5 )The
.
portion of the communication system that processes this
11. PRELIMINARIES message will have received s(z) from the first code word.
Consider a cyclic code of word length n. It is formed by This is stored and then added to every subsequent code
the multiplication of a polynomial F ( z ) representing the word giving
information bits and the polynomial code generator G(x).
If thereare k informationbits, then F(z) has degree
W,(.) + s ( 5 ) + s(5) + E ( x ) = W,(.) + E(z)
IC - 1, and G(x) has degree n - k . These polynomials have where W i ( x )is the original unalteredcode word and E ( x ) is
coefficients in the finite field of two elements 0 and 1. All the noise-error pattern (which can be zero) added during
operations are modulo 2. It is well known [I] that a code transmission. If aportion of a different message is er-
word (defined as a multiple of G ( x ) ) can be represented by roneously substituted for the correct message and this sub-
the polynomial stituted message has a different MI which is represented
W(Z) = Z-T(Z) + R(z) (1)
by the syndrome s’(x), then the received’code word will
have the form (after the addition of s(x))
where R ( x ) is the remainder obtained by dividing F ( x ) by
G(z). B ( x ) hasdegree n - k - 1 or less (i.e., degR(x) _<
+
Wi(5) s(5) + s’(5).
n - IC - 1). The first IC bits of W ( z ) arethe original Since s(z) and s’(z) are bobh members of X,then ( ~ ( 5 ) +
information bits while the last n - IC bits (represented by s’(x)) is a member of CJ, and is a syndrome not associated
R ( x ) )are the parity check bits. withacorrectableadditiveerror pattern. Therefore the
Decoding involves dividing the received word V ( x ) by decoding procedure will yield asyndrome which states
G ( x ) to determine the remainder or syndrome. V ( x ) = that a noise error has not occurred but presumably an
W(x) + E ( z ) , where E(%)is the error pattern acquired M I mix-up has occurred. It is assumed that additive noise
duringtransmission. If E($) = 0, then the syndrome is has not also occurred in this code word. If it has, then the
zero. If the syndrome is not zero, then a detectable error resulting syndrome will be indeterminate and may be a
has occurred. syndrome caused by t or fewer random errors. I n this case
Assume a cyclic code which corrects t or less random the code word will be decoded incorrectly. I n a practical
errors. Then for every error pattern E ( x ) of t or less errors case, however, not all the code words carrying the wrong
(i.e., the weight of E ( x ) is t or less), there corresponds a M I should be affected by noise errors, and detection of the
different syndrome ~ ( 5 )Every. syndrome has degree less wrong M I should occur.
 44 IXEE TllANSACTlONH ON
FI3UIWARY
TECHNOLOGY,
COMMUNICATION I<%'J

This procedure assumes that it is of greater importance Since Gl(x) has degree g1 = 12 - kl and G2(z) degree
that the processing of a code word with an invalid M I be gz = n - kz, the degree of K ( x ) is g1 - g2 - I = k2 - k, -
discovered than thatsuch a n invalid code word be decoded 1 or less where K ( x ) is given by
incorrectly because of additive noise. The141written
s1(x) = K(x)G,(z)
explicitly in thefirst code word of the message is protected
from noise by the paritycheck bits of that word. Therefore and s1(x) is a member of S. This leads to the following
the first code word should yield the correct MI. corollary.
Note that if the usual method of message identifying is
used, where the MI is explicitly displayed as part of the Corollary 1
information-bits portion of each code word, then memory The set X for code C1 has 2g1-gz= 2k2-k1members. (We
is also required by theportion of the systemprocessing the include K(z) = 0.)
message so that the 1\41of a block can be checked against Example: Consider the BCH codes C1,C2 formed by
the MIof preceding blocks. Thus thesame amount of stor- generators
age is needed with the method presented here as with the
usual method.
Gl(x) (xs x2 + +l ) ( ~x4 ~ x3+ + + x2
The following sections will examinecertain classes of + + + + +
1) (xS x4 x 2 x: 1)
cyclic codes to discover possible sets U and S. The use of
these sets is in some cases similar to theuse of unused syn-
Ga(z) = (x5 x 2 + + + + + +
I) (x5 x4 x 3 x 2 1)
dromes in cyclic codes that correct, synchronization errors where n = 31. Then tl = 3, and t a = 2; so 2t2 > tl. There-
PI. fore sI(x) = (Adz4 &x3 + A2x2+ Alx + +
Ao)G2(x)for
Ai = l , O . There are therefore 2j members in the set S.
111. FULL-LENGTH RANDOM E:RRORCORRECTING It should also be noted that if a code word having an
CYCLICCODES A41 syndrome s?(x) is substituted for acode word havingan
The length n of a cyclic code is such that the code gen- M I syndrome s1(z), then the result (if no noise errors are
+ +
erator G(z) divides z n 1 and no expression xe 1 where present) will be the syndrome sl(x) +
sz(z) = s(z). Know-
e < n. If all n bits are used for transmitting inform at'1011 ing sl(z) we can then derive the 141 of the wrongly sub-
thcn the code is said to be full length. stituted message by adding sl(z) to s ( ~ ) .
A. Bose-Chauclhuri-Hocquela(7hem ( B C H ) Codes [1J B. Adding Parity Bit to a Code of Odd Weight
These codes can correct t random errors with a word It is well known that any code can correct errors having
length of 2" - 1 bits. The redundancy is a t most mt bits. The weight t and simultaneously detect errors of magnitude
code generator polynomial is the product of t polynomials d 2 t if and only if the minimum weight of the code is a t
each of degree m - 1 or less. + +
least t d +
1. Let d = t 1 ;then theweight of the code
Suppose code Cz is generated by (&(x) and code C1 is is 2t+ 2. This code can be constructed by addingan over-
generated by Gl(x)where Gl(z) = F(z)G2(z).Cz corrects alleven parity check to a code correcting t errors and
tz errors and C1 corrects tl errors where tl > tz. Let the de- having weight 2t + 1. This will add one more bit of re-
gree of G 2 ( x ) = n - k2, and the degree of Gl(x)= 12 - kl. dundancy. Thus theresulting code will correct t errors and
Suppose sl(x) is a syndrome of C 1 which is a multiple of detect all errors of weight t + +
1. If t is odd, thent 1 will
G2(x).This is possible since the degree of G2(x)is less than be even. Let the length of this code C be n and have gen-
the degree of G'l(x). Then s1(x) = K ( z ) G 2 ( x ) .Anyerror erator G(x).
pattern giving this syndrome in thecode C1 has the form U is the setof different syndromes obtained fromthe set
K(x)G2(2) + A(x)G,(z) = G'Z(X)(K(X) + A(x)F(x)). (2)
of error patterns of weight t + 1.
S will be a set of syndromes resulting from patterns of
This expression is a code word of Cy2 and therefore has the weight t + 1 such that if sl(x), s2(x) are in S, then a(z)+
weight a t least 2ta+ 1. This leads to t,he following theorem s2(x) are in U . Let Y be a linear code of length n or less
having constant weight t + 1. The code words of Y form
due to Tong [2].
an additive group. Therefore the remainders after division
Thevrem I of each word of Y by G(x) will form an additive group.
+
If tl < 2t2 1, then the syndrome sl(z) = K(x)Ga(z)is This isshown by thefollowing. Let yl(s),y2(z)be members
unused for additive error correction by the code C1. As a of Y.Then
direct result we have the following;theorem. ?Jl(Z)= A(x)G(x) + a(s)
Theolem 2 +
Y~(Z)= B ( x ) G ( x ) s ~ ( x ) ..
For the BCH code C1 generated by Gl(x) = F(x)G2(x), Then
where t1 5 2t2, the set S is the set of all multiples of Gz(x)
having degree less than the degree of G1(x).The proof is + + + +
YI(~) ~ 2 ( z )= ( A ( x ) B ( x ) ) G ( x ) ( s 1 ( ~ ) ~ a ( z ) )
obvious since the sumof any two such multiples is another and the syndrome of the sumof yl(x), y2(z)is equal to the
multiple; thns. S = IT. sum of the syndromes sl(x), s2(z).
IDENTIFICATION
MANDELBAUM:
MESSAGE
CYCLIC CODING AND 45

Therefore Y can be used for S. Weiss [3] shows that any IV. BURSTERROR CODES
CORRECTING
linear code of constant weight is derivable from a maximal No known cyclic burst error connecting codes are per-
lengthshift-register sequence code. Anylinear code of fect, i.e., some syndromes do not correspond to an error
constant weight must have length m(2&- 1) and weight burst pattern thatis to be corrected (except for the single
m2"-' with k information bits, where m is any integer. error correcting Hamming codes).
Thus t + 1 must equal m2k-1 for some m and k , where A cyclic burst connecting code is generated b y a poly-
m(2k - 1) 5 n. The number of code words in this code Y nomial G(x) of degree n - k which divides x" - 1 and no
is 2k - 1. other polynomial of the form xe - 1, e < n. G(0) = 1,
Suppose t +1 = 2dp where p is odd. Then itfollows: and n is the length of the code. Every polynomial of degree
m2'c-l = 2dp I n - 1 is equivalent modulo G(s) to an element of a
finite set P, which has 2n-* elements.
or
. . ., Ezn-k(x).
nz = p, lc = d +1 &(x), Ez(x),
P is partitioned into subclasses such that if E,(z) is an
and the numberof members of Y is 2d+1 - 1. Since it was element of any subclass and E,($) is an element of any
assumed t is odd, then d 2 1, and 2d+1 - 1 2 3. For d = other subclass, then
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . ., thenumber of nonzero code words of
weight t + 1 in Y is 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, . . ., respectively. xiEe(x) # xjE,(z)mod G(z)
Thus byadding one parity bit, a t least 4 M I syndromes are
for any i, j . This partition will give: a first subset of nl
obtained (including zero.) However, if d is small, then
elements, a second subset of n2 elements, . a bth subset
e ,

thismethodmaynot yield enough MI syndromes of

of n b elements.
weight t + 1.
Therefore
By the above method, a faultyM I can only be detected
since error patterns of weight t +
1 cannot be corrected.
j
-
nl -
2"-k

It follows that once a faulty MI has been detected, re-

peated additions of different MI syndromes must be done
if i t is desired to determine the incorrect syndrome itself.
Example: Suppose C' is a Hamming code generated by
G"(x) = x5 z + + 1. Thisis a code of length 31, correcting
all single errors and thus has weight 3. It is a perfect code
SO that all remainders of G'(x) are used as syndromes for
single errors. If an overall parity bit is added, then the
generator is G(z) = (x +
l)(x5 z + + 1) giving a code C
whose code words have weight of a t least 4.
Then Y is chosen to be thecode of constant weight 2 so
that m2"l = 2 or m = 1, k = 2. The length of Y is 22 -
1 = 3 which is less than the length of C. The number of
words in Y is also 3 . Y is a maximal length shift-register
sequence generated by &(x') = (x3 +
l)/h(x) where h(x)
is a primitive polynomial of degree 2. Thus S contains 4
MI syndromes (including zero) okained by adding one bit
of redundancy to theoriginal Hamming code. Each member
of X is equal to a member of Y modulo G(z).
An alternative method of finding patterns of constant
weight is to use the rows of a Hadamard matrix as mem-
bers of Y.A Hadamardmatrisis a y x y orthogonal
+
matrix whose entries are 1and - 1. If the 1's are changed
to 0's and the- 1's to 1's then themodulo 2 sum of any two
rows has weight g / 2 . For example, the following matrix di-
Let B,(x) denote any element of the jthsubclass. Then
B&) $ ziBh(z)mod G(x)
B,(x) x"jBj(x)mod G(z)
for j # h. It is known that nj divides n. A cycle is all dis-
tinct elements of the form ztBj(s). For any specific B,(z)
there corresponds one and only one cycle. B,(x) is called
n,
the jthcharacteristic of G(z), and is the order of B,(z).
Twodifferentcharacteristics will generatetwo different
cycles. The structureof the code generated by G(x) is then
given by the sequence of pairs
{nj,Bj(x)j, 1 Ij Ib.
A burst of d or fewer errors is given by thepolynomial
T ( z ) = (Ad-lxd-l + . * . + Azzi + . * . + A1z + 1).
There are Z d - l dif?ferent polynomials T ( x ) . A code which
corrects any burstof d or less errors in a word must correct
the 2d-1 different burst error patterns T ( z ) .The length of
the code is given by the minimum order associated with
these characteristics.
The number and length of each cycle associated with a
characteristic is determined by G(z). If G(z) = Gl(z)G&),
then the typeof cycles of G(z) are determined by the num-

y;]
rectly comes from a Hadamard matrix

0 0 1 1 '
ber and length of cycles produced by Gi(x) individually.
For example, a primitive polynomial of degree m possesses
two cycles: the trivial zero cycle of length one and the
maximallength cycle of 2" - 1. The cycle structure is
formally represented by the expression

If y > 2, then g must be a multiple of 4 for the matrix to

[l + l(2" - l)].
exist. Peterson [ l ]has a list of conditions sufficient for the An irreducible polynomialthat is not primitive hasa cycle
existence of Hadamard matrices. structure given by [I +
p(n)] where p is the number of
46 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
TECHNOLOGY,
COhlMUNICATION FEBRUARY 1969

cycles of equal length n. The cycle structure of the product erated by Q(x) alone. Since Gl(x) is aprimitive poly-
G(x) of two distinct irreducible pokynomials is nomial of degree 2, it will produce a cycle of length 3.
l1 + Pl(nl)l[l + P2(n2)1 = [1 + /~!1(711) + PZ(n2) + P(n) 1 Thus theurlused syndromes form asingle cycle. As a result
thereare only4 MI syndromes: {0,G2(x), xGz(x), (x +
where 1)G2]. This is due to thefollowing argument.

P = PIPZ gcd (%,%)

+ +
Gl(x)must bex 2 x 1,since this is theonly primitive
polynomial of degree 2. If xG2(x)is a syndrome in S , then
n = Icm (nl,n2:l
.l G2(x) + zGz(x) = (1 + x)GZ(x) must also be an MI
syndrome which it is, since (1 +x) G 2 ( x ) = x2G2(x)
A . Optimum Burst Correcting Codea
+
modGl(x) implies (1 x ) G 2 ( x )= x2G2(x)modGl(x)Gz(x)
It has been shown [4] that in order to correct all burst and xZGa(x)is the third syndrome on the short cycle of
error patterns of length b or less with a binary (n,n - r ) unused syndromes. This establishes the following.
code, the following inequality must hold
71 2 27-"+1 - 1 Theorem 3
An optimum code that corrects bursts of length 3 has
where r is 6he number of check bits. If n = 2'-b+1 - 1 then exactly 4 A41 syndromes (including zero).
the code is optimum. Example: An optimum cyclic code correcting bursts of
Optimum codes were discovered by Abramson [4] and length 3 is
Elspas and Short [5]. These are generated by Gl(x)G2(x)
where Gz(z) is primitive with order m2. Let Gl(x) have a G ~ ( ~ ) G ~= + x + 1)(x4 + x + 1).
( S( )x 2
maximum cycle length nl which is a factor of mp.The cycle
lengths of G'l(x)G2(x) are the leastcommon multiples of the The length is 15. The MI syndromes are {O, x4 + x + 1,
cycle lengths of G1(z) and Gz(x). Let q be the degree of x(24+ X: + I), (X + 1 ) ( ~ +4 X: + I ) ) .
G~(z).There are2* cycles of length n. If a code of this form The same construction can be applied to optimum codes
corrects all burstsof length q +
I, then it is optimum, Le., that correct longer bursts.The procedure is to find all
unused cycles and use a subset of those syndromes such
it has the longest length for a given q and redundancy.
that the sum of any two is a member of an unused cycle.
However, there are still unused ;syndromes that consist
of cycles of length less than n. For if p i is the number of Optimum codes [5] are generated by
cycles of length niin thecode generated byGl(x) and there
are 0 cycles of length m2in the code generated by G2(x),
n Gi(x)P(x>
a

then the type of cycles formed by the code generated by where the Gi(x) are irreducible and P ( x ) is primitive. The
Gl(z)G2(x) is given by - maximal cycle length of P ( x ) is a multiple of the maximal
[l +c z
Pi(%'] [1 + P(m2)1 =
[
1 + c Pit%) + P(md
a
cycle lengths of the G',(x). P ( x ) has degree greater than the
sum of the degrees of the Gi(x).
+C a
P ~ Pgcd (I*&
Lemma 1 (lcm(wm))].
For an optimumcode, a cycle is unused for burst correc-
Theoptimumburst correcting codes considered by tion if and only if its characteristicis a multiple of P ( x ) .
Abramson [4] are generated byG1(:c)G2(x) where GI(%)and Proof: If the characteristic of a cycle is xjni,Gi,(x)P(x),
G2(x)are primitivepolynomials of degree 2 and 77, - k - 2, the cycles formed are equivalent to the cycles formed by
respectively. The length of the code is n and it corrects x j n i r C i , ( x )with respect to thecode generated byH i G i ( x ) ,
bursts of length 3 or less. There axe n - k parity check since P ( x ) cancels out in the division process giving the
bits. These codes then have the cycle form remainder. By the definition of the G i ( s ) , none of these
[I + +
l ( 2 d - ' - 1)][1 1(2n--8-@--1) - l ) ] cycles areequal to the maximal cycle lengthandare
therefore unused for burst correction.
= [I + 1(2d-1 - 1) + 2d-1(2n--8-(d-1) - I)]
Conversely, suppose characteristic
a is
formed by
I

where d = 3. xjni,Gir(x) (not a multiple of E'(.)). Since P ( x ) is irreduc-

Thus it is seen that if such an optimum burst correct- ible, the Gi,(x) have no common factorwith P ( x ) and
ing code exists there are 4 cycles of length 2n--B-(d-1)- 1 ~ j + ~ n ~ , G = ) P ( x )implies e = n, where
~ x, (j ~x i) r G i r ( xmod
corresponding to the 4 different burst error patterns and n is the length of the code, and no smaller value of e satis-
one cycle of length 3. This shorter cycle is formed by the fies this equation. Therefore these characteristics form a
error patterns of form xiC2(x) where the degree of Ge(x)is maximal cycle. Since in an optimum burstcorrecting code
greater than the degree of Gl(x).This is because the syn- the characteristics of amaximal cycle represent a, cor-
dromes formed by dividing xiG2(x:)by Gl(z)Gz(x) are the rectable error burst, the result follows.
same as those formed by the pattern xi in the code gen-
Theorem 4
There are 2u members of S for an optimum burst code
1 gcd is the greatest common denominator and lcm is the least
common multiple. where u is the degree of HtG,(z).
YCLIC MANDELBAUM: IDENTIFICATION
AND MESSAGE 47

Proof: By Lemma 1,any syndrome of the form Q ( x ) P ( z ) candidates for the set X of MIS. Of course the sum of any
where deg &(x) < u isunused. Since &(x) is any poly- two such MI syndromes must again be another unused
nomial of degree u - 1 or less (including zero) and the sum syndrome.
of any two such polynomials has degree less than u,the
result follows. A . Random Error Correcting Codes
Example: Consider the following optimum burst code as Assume that the shortened cyclic code C generated by
given by Elspas and Short [5]. This code corrects length 4 G(x) corrects for t or fewer errors. There are y unused and
bursts, has a lengthof 1023 bits, and is generated by omitted leading positions in each code word. Let the setof
G,(z) = 5 + 1, G‘~(z) = x 2 + z + I error patterns that containa total of t or less errors and a t
least one error in the omitted y bits be U . The number of
P(z) = xlo + x4 + + + x + 1.
2 3 x2 syndromes in U is given by

The MI syndromes are those of the form (Q(x)P(x)]

where deg &(x)< 3. There are 23 such syndromes.
N ( U )= c
u=l 5
i=l (y>( .) n’
u--2

B. Fi7.e Codes where n’ is the length of the shortened code (n’ = n - y)

and w = t if t 5 y or zu = y if y I t. This is seen from the
Finding suitable unused syndromes for a Firecode to use following argument. If u errors occur (uI t ) and i errors
as n1Is is similar to finding such syndromes for optimum occur in the omitted positions, then u - i occur in the
burst codes. The burst patterns that arecorrected by this other n‘ positions. The number of such patterns is given by
code occur on certain cycles of longest length. Therefore the expression,
syndromes that are associated with cycles of other lengths
can be used as MIS.
A Fire code isgenerated bythe polynomial G(z) = (y) ( u - - 2 .).
+
(xc l)P(x), where P ( z ) is an irreducible polynomial of
degree m which divides xe + 1 but not 2”+ 1 for y < e. This is summed over all i and u.To each such pattern is
The lengthof the code is lcm (e,c). It can correct any single associated a syndrome.
burst of length b or less and simultaneously detect any Of course, the number of syndromes in S is smaller since
+
burst of length cl 2 b if c 2 b cl - 1 and m 2 6. the sum of two syndromes in U may be associated with an
+
All cycles of G ( x ) may be examinedby factoring(xc 1) error pattern havingmore than t errors; or the errors in the
into its irreducible polynomials and examining the canoni- first y omitted bits may cancel.
cal form of the cycle structure. However, it is not necessary The following will describe a procedureto determine a set
to do this to find appropriate M I S . of useful syndromes in S .
Case 1: y 5 t. Consider the error patterns as 12 bits long.
Th,eorem 5 Each will have t or fewer errors and therefore will uniquely
There are a t least MIs availablefor use withaFire correspond to one syndrome. The setof these errorpatterns
code and these are syndromes of the form Q ( z ) P ( z )where is divided into equivalence classes. The members of each
deg &(x)< c. class are identical in the first y (omitted) positions. There
P ~ o o f :Cycles with characteristics of the form Q(z)P(x) are therefore 2’ such classes corresponding to all patterns
are equivalent tothe cycles withcharacteristics &(x) of y bits. The sum of any twosuch patterns is always
formed by the code generated by‘x + 1. These cycles have nonzero.
The members of a given equivalence class are identical in
length not greater than c and are therefore not used for
errorcorrection since theerror correction cycles have the first y bits; therefore the sum of any two of the same
length lcm (c,e) which is assumed greater than either c or e class will have zeros in the first y bits and will therefore
in order to have a nontrivial code. Since the sum of two yield a pattern that could becaused wholly by noise.
such
syndromes Qt(x)P(z) + Q2P(z) = (Q1(z) + Thus there are 2’ possible MIS (including zero), one from
each equivalence class. The last 11,’ = n - y bits of each
&2(z))P(a)is another such syndrome, it follows that
pattern is chosen zero, so that noise errors in the last n‘
X = U = (Q(z)P(x)] bits as well as a nonzero syndrome in U could simulta-
neously be detected. This would occur after an 111syndrome
for all Q ( z )where deg Q ( z ) < c. is added to a code word with a different MI syndrome and
if the total numberof bits in thecomposite pattern so ob-
V. SHORTENED CODES
tained is not greater than t, and if additive noise errors
A shortened code is formed from an (?z,k) linear code by occur.
setting they leading information bits to zero and omitting Case 2: t < y. I n this case all 2” combinations of y bits
themfrom the code word. This gives an (n’, k’) code cannot be used since some have greater than 2 l’s, and
where 7 ~ ’= n - y, k’ = k - y. As a result the syndromes also sums of others may yield greater than t 1’s. First
that are associated with errors occurring in these omitted assume t is even. Consider all y-bit patterns that have no
positions are unused. As aresultthesesyndromesare more than t / 2 1’s. Then the sum of any two such pat-
48 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, FEBRUARY 1969

terns is a pattern having t or fewer 1’s. The number of to each code word except the first. (The first code word
such patterns (including the zero pattern) is carries the MI as part of the information bits which are
protected from noise by the parity check bits.) BCH and
E
2=0 a);(
burst correcting cyclic codes have syndromes which are
not used for error correction. These canbe used by the MI
Now consider the situation when! t = 2u +
1. All pat- syndromes. The amount of added logic needed to imple-
terns containing u 1’s are in the set, but not all patterns ment this system is quite small. By use of this method
having u + 1 1’s can be used. This is because the sum of rather than theuse of information bits for the MI, the in-
two patterns each having u +
1 1’s in totally different formation efficiency of the system may besignificantly in-
positions will sum toa pattern having2u +
2 bits which is creased since these information bits arenow free for other
not correctable. Thus only those
(9
patterns of u + 1 1’s use.

constrained to have a 1 in a fixed position, e.g., the first REFERENCES

bit,are acceptable. Thusthe nurnber of patterns(and W. W. Peterson, Error-Correcting Codes. New York: Wiley,
therefore M I syndromes) is 1961.
S. Y. Tong,“Synchronization recovery techniques for binary
cyclic codes,” Bell Sys. Tech. J.,vol. 46, p . 561-596, April 1966.
E. Welss, “Linear codes of constant weiggt,” J . SIAIII, vol. 14,
pp. 106-111, January 1966.
N. M. Abramson, “Error-correcting codes from linear sequential
circuits,” Proc. 4th Symp. on Information Theory (London,
B. Burst Correcting Codes England, September 1960), ,pp. 26-40.
B. Elspas and,?. A. Short, A note on optimum burst-error-cor-
Assume that a cyclic code corrects bursts of b or fewer recting codes, IRE Trans. Information Theory, vol. IT-8, pp.
bits. The code is again shortened b;y y bits. There are two 39-42, January 1962.
E. Gorog, “Same new classes of cyclic codes used for burst-error
cases to be considered. correction,’’ I B M J. Res. Develop., vol. 7, pp. 102-111, April
Case I: b 2 y. It is easily seen that the MI syndromes 1963.
are derived from the 2u combinations of the y omitted bit
patterns. There are2 u nil1 syndromes in S (including zero).
Case 2: b < y. It is not difficult to see that all 1’s must be
limited to b consecutive positions i n the y leading omitted
David Mandelbaum (”68) was
bits. For otherwise the sum of two patterns could yield a born in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Decem-
burst of greater than b bits. Thus there are 2b M I syn- ber 28, 1933. He received the A.B.
dromes in S (including zero). degree in mathematics from Prince-
ton University,Princeton, N.J.,
in 1956, and the M.S.E.E. degree
VI. CONCLUSIONS fromColumbia
University, New
This paper has assumed a certain requirement for mes- York, N.Y., in 1960.
From 1957 to 1958 he worked for
sages consisting of successive cyclic code words utilizing the IBM Corporation in the field of
forwarderrorcorrection. It isassumed that each code applied programming. From 1960
word be identified b y a certain bit pattern and than this to 1965 he was withthe Digital
Laboratory of International Tele-
pattern be constantover the whole of a message. This pat- phone and Telegraph, Nutley, N.J.
tern called a message identifier (:MI) mayindicatethe From 1965 to 1968 he was with
type of message, addressee? priority or security? etc.,of the Communication Systems, Inc., Pa-
ramus, N.J. He is presently with the Avionics Laboratory, USAE-
message. Rather than utilize information bits in eachcode COM, Fort Monmouth, N.J.
word for this purpose, unused code syndromes are added Mr. Mandelbaum is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma S i .