Error Detection

1) Parity Bit
● Determines whether bits in a transmission have been corrupted or not
● In parity bit checking, an additional bit called the "parity bit" is added to the
data being transmitted.
● The value of the parity bit is set so that the total number of 1s and 0s
(including the parity bit) is always either even or odd.
● There are two types of parity:
● - Even Parity: The total number of 1s and 0s, including the parity bit, is always
even.
● - Odd Parity: The total number of 1s and 0s, including the parity bit, is always
odd.
● At the receiver's end, the received data (including the parity bit) is checked.
● If the number of 1s and 0s (including the parity bit) is not in accordance with
the specified parity (even or odd), an error is detected.
● An advantage of this methods is that is is quick and simple to implement
● A disadvantage of this methods is that it can only detect that an error has
occurred but does not detect where the error occurred

2) Parity Block
● Parity block error checking extends the concept of parity bit checking to larger
blocks of data.
● Instead of adding a single parity bit to each byte, a parity bit is added to each
block of bytes
● At the receiver's end, parity block error checking involves checking each block
of data (including the parity bit) to ensure that the total number of 1s and 0s in
each block conforms to the specified parity (even or odd).
● If any block fails the parity check, an error is detected in that block.
● An advantage of this is that parity block error checking can identify the
location of errors within the block of data.
● A disadvantage is that if two or more buts are changed then it cannot detect
the location of the data.

3) Checksum
● Checksum is a method used to detect errors in data during transmission or
storage.
● It involves calculating a checksum value based on the data being transmitted.
A pre-agreed algorithm is used to calculate the checksum
● The checksum value is added to the data and transmitted alongside it.
● At the receiver's end, the checksum is recalculated based on the received
data.
● If the recalculated checksum does not match the received checksum, an error
is detected.
4) Check Digit
● Check digit is a form of error detection used primarily in numerical data, such
as identification numbers or barcodes.
● It involves adding an extra digit to the end of a number.
● The check digit is calculated based on the other digits in the number using a
specific algorithm.
● At the receiving end, the check digit is recalculated, and if it does not match
the received check digit, an error is detected.
● It can spot the following errors:
- incorrect digits entered
- transposition errors
- phonetic errors
- Omitted or extra digits

5) Echo Check
● Data is transmitted to the destination device
● The destination device returns a exact copy of what it reinvested to the
sender
● The returned data is compared with the original data. If they are different, that
means an error has occurred at some stage, and the data is re-sent.
● The problem with this approach is that if the two sets of data are different,
there is no way to tell whether the error occurred when sending the data or
when it was returned for checking.

6) Auto Repeat Request

● The destination device receives the data transmission along with an error
detection code,
● If no errors have been detected, a positive acknowledgement is sent back.
● If an error is detected, a re-transmission request (negative acknowledgment)
is sent back to the sender.
● The sender then re-transmits the original message.
● The timeout is a feature used by the sending device. After a pre-determined
amount of time, if the device hasn't received any form of acknowledge, it will
automatically re-send the data.
● The device will keep re-sending the data until it either receives a positive
acknowledgement or a pre-configured number of attempts to re-send the
transmission have taken place.