Parity bit

A parity bit, or check bit is a bit added to the end of a string of binary code that indicates whether the number of bits in the string with the value one is even or odd. Parity bits are used as the simplest form of error detecting code.

There are two variants of parity bits: even parity bit and odd parity bit.

In the case of even parity, for a given set of bits, the occurrences of bits whose value is 1 is counted. If that count is odd, the parity bit value is set to 1, making the total count of occurrences of 1's in the whole set(including the parity bit) an even number. If the count of 1's in a given set of bits is already even, the parity bit's value remains 0.

In the case of odd parity, the situation is reversed. For a given set of bits, if the count of bits with a value of 1 is even, the parity bit value is set to 1 making the total count of 1's in the whole set(including the parity bit) an odd number. If the count of bits with a value of 1 is odd, the count is already odd so the parity bit's value remains 0.