Error Detection and Correction
Error Detection and Correction
Hamming code is a set of error-correction codes that can be used to detect and correct the
errors that can occur when the data is moved or stored from the sender to the receiver. It is
technique developed by R.W. Hamming for error correction.
Redundant bits –
Redundant bits are extra binary bits that are generated and added to the information-carrying bits
of data transfer to ensure that no bits were lost during the data transfer.
The number of redundant bits can be calculated using the following formula:
2^r ≥ m + r + 1
where, r = redundant bit, m = data bit
Suppose the number of data bits is 7, then the number of redundant bits can be calculated using:
= 2^4 ≥ 7 + 4 + 1
Thus, the number of redundant bits= 4
Parity bits –
A parity bit is a bit appended to a data of binary bits to ensure that the total number of 1’s in the
data are even or odd. Parity bits are used for error detection. There are two types of parity bits:
1. Write the bit positions starting from 1 in binary form (1, 10, 11, 100, etc).
2. All the bit positions that are a power of 2 are marked as parity bits (1, 2, 4, 8, etc).
3. All the other bit positions are marked as data bits.
4. Each data bit is included in a unique set of parity bits, as determined its bit position in
binary form.
a. Parity bit 1 covers all the bits positions whose binary representation includes a 1 in the
least significant
position (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, etc).
b. Parity bit 2 covers all the bits positions whose binary representation includes a 1 in the
second position from
the least significant bit (2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, etc).
c. Parity bit 4 covers all the bits positions whose binary representation includes a 1 in the
third position from
the least significant bit (4–7, 12–15, 20–23, etc).
d. Parity bit 8 covers all the bits positions whose binary representation includes a 1 in the
fourth position from
the least significant bit bits (8–15, 24–31, 40–47, etc).
e. In general each parity bit covers all bits where the bitwise AND of the parity position
and the bit position is
non-zero.
5. Since we check for even parity set a parity bit to 1 if the total number of ones in the
positions it checks is
odd.
6. Set a parity bit to 0 if the total number of ones in the positions it checks is even.
Suppose the data to be transmitted is 1011001, the bits will be placed as follows:
1. R1 bit is calculated using parity check at all the bits positions whose binary
representation includes a 1 in the least significant position.
R1: bits 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
To find the redundant bit R1, we check for even parity. Since the total number of 1’s in
all the bit positions corresponding to R1 is an even number the value of R1 (parity bit’s
value) = 0
2. R2 bit is calculated using parity check at all the bits positions whose binary
representation includes a 1 in the second position from the least significant bit.
To find the redundant bit R2, we check for even parity. Since the total number of 1’s in
all the bit positions corresponding to R2 is an odd number the value of R2(parity bit’s
value)=1
3. R4 bit is calculated using parity check at all the bits positions whose binary
representation includes a 1 in the third position from the least significant bit.
R4: bits 4, 5, 6, 7
To find the redundant bit R4, we check for even parity. Since the total number of 1’s in
all the bit positions corresponding to R4 is an odd number the value of R4(parity bit’s
value) = 1
4. R8 bit is calculated using parity check at all the bits positions whose binary
representation includes a 1 in the fourth position from the least significant bit.
To find the redundant bit R8, we check for even parity. Since the total number of 1’s in
all the bit positions corresponding to R8 is an even number the value of R8(parity bit’s
value)=0.
The bits give the binary number as 0110 whose decimal representation is 6. Thus, the bit 6
contains an error. To correct the error the 6th bit is changed from 1 to 0.