Chapter 10

Error Detection
and
Correction

10.1 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
 • Networks must be able to transfer data from one device to another
with acceptable accuracy.
• Some applications can tolerate a small level of error. For example,
random errors in audio or video transmissions may be tolerable,
but when we transfer text, we expect a very high level of accuracy.
• Error control in the data link layer is based on automatic repeat
request (ARQ), which is the retransmission of data.
• Error control is both error detection and error correction.

Data can be corrupted

during transmission.
Some applications require that
errors be detected and corrected.

10.2
 10-1 INTRODUCTION

Let us first discuss some issues related, directly or

indirectly, to error detection and correction.

Topics discussed in this section:

Types of Errors: Single or multiple bits due to impact of media.
Detection Versus Correction: Detect error (yes/no, easy task) & check
every possibility in data stream for correction (difficult).
Forward Error Correction Versus Retransmission: Guess error by
redundant bits (if small error) or retransmit errored message.
Coding: achieved using redundancy (block/convolutional) which creates a
relationship between the redundant bits and the actual data bits. Their presence
allows the receiver to detect or correct corrupted bits.

10.3
 Note

In a single-bit error, only 1 bit in the data

unit has changed.

10.4
 Note

A burst error means that 2 or more bits

in the data unit have changed.

10.5
 Note

To detect or correct errors, we need to

send extra (redundant) bits with data.

10.6
 10-2 BLOCK CODING

In block coding, we divide our message into blocks,

each of k bits, called datawords. We add r redundant
bits to each block to make the length n = k + r. The
resulting n-bit blocks are called codewords.
Topics discussed in this section:
Error Detection: How can errors be detected by using block coding?
The receiver can detect a change in the original codeword with a
condition:
•The receiver has a list of valid codewords and the original codeword has
changed to an invalid one.
Error Correction
Hamming Distance (the distance between the received codeword and
the sent codeword) is the number of bits that are corrupted during
transmission.
10.7
 Figure 10.5 Datawords and codewords in block coding

since n > k

10.8
 Example 10.2
An error-detecting code can detect only the types of
errors for which it is designed; other types of errors
may remain undetected.

Let us assume that k = 2 and n = 3. Table 10.1 shows the

list of datawords and codewords.

Assume the sender encodes the dataword 01 as 011 and

sends it to the receiver. Consider the following cases:

1. The receiver receives 011. It is a valid codeword. The

receiver extracts the dataword 01 from it.

10.9
 Example 10.2 (continued)

2. The codeword is corrupted during transmission, and

111 is received. This is not a valid codeword and is
discarded.

3. The codeword is corrupted during transmission, and

000 is received. This is a valid codeword. The receiver
incorrectly extracts the dataword 00. Two corrupted
bits have made the error undetectable.

Table 10.1 A code for error detection (Example 10.2)

10.10
 Figure 10.7 Structure of encoder and decoder in error correction
• Error correction is much more difficult than error detection.
• In error detection, the receiver needs to know only that the received codeword
is invalid.
• In error correction, the receiver needs to find (or guess) the original codeword
sent.
• We need more redundant bits for error correction and checker function is more
complex.

10.11
 Example 10.3

Let us add more redundant bits to Example 10.2 to see if

the receiver can correct an error without knowing what
was actually sent. We add 3 redundant bits to the 2-bit
dataword to make 5-bit codewords. Table 10.2 shows the
datawords and codewords. Assume the dataword is 01.
The sender creates the codeword 01011. The codeword is
corrupted during transmission, and 01001 is received.
First, the receiver finds that the received codeword is not
in the table. This means an error has occurred. The
receiver, assuming that there is only 1 bit corrupted, uses
the following strategy to guess the correct dataword.

10.12
 Example 10.3 (continued)
1. Comparing the received codeword with the first codeword in the table (01001
versus 00000), the receiver decides that the first codeword is not the one that
was sent because there are two different bits.

2. By the same reasoning, the original codeword cannot be the third or fourth
one in the table.

3. The original codeword must be the second one in the table because this is the
only one that differs from the received codeword by 1 bit. The receiver
replaces 01001 with 01011 and consults the table to find the dataword 01.

10.13 Table 10.2 A code for error correction (Example 10.3)

 Note

One of the central concepts in coding

for error control is the idea of the
Hamming distance.

The Hamming distance between two

codewords is the number of differences
between corresponding bits.

10.14
 Example 10.4

Let us find the Hamming distance between two pairs of

words.

1. The Hamming distance d(000, 011) is 2 because

2. The Hamming distance d(10101, 11110) is 3 because

10.15
 Note

The minimum Hamming distance is the

smallest Hamming distance between
all possible pairs in a set of words.

10.16
 Example 10.5

Find the minimum Hamming distance of the coding

scheme in Table 10.1.
Solution
We first find all Hamming distances.

The dmin in this case is 2.

10.17
 Example 10.6

Find the minimum Hamming distance of the coding

scheme in Table 10.2.

Solution
We first find all the Hamming distances.

The dmin in this case is 3.

10.18
 Note

To guarantee the detection of up to s

errors in all cases, the minimum
Hamming distance in a block
code must be dmin = s + 1.

10.19
 10-3 LINEAR BLOCK CODES

Almost all block codes used today belong to a subset

called linear block codes. A linear block code is a code
in which the exclusive OR (addition modulo-2) of two
valid codewords creates another valid codeword.

Topics discussed in this section:

Minimum Distance for Linear Block Codes
Some Linear Block Codes

10.20
 Note

A simple parity-check code is a

single-bit error-detecting
code in which
n = k + 1 with dmin = 2.

10.21
 Figure 10.10 Encoder and decoder for simple parity-check code
• The encoder uses a generator that takes a copy of a 4-bit dataword and generates
a parity bit.
• If the number of 1s is even, the parity result is 0; if the number of 1s is odd, the
result is 1. The dataword bits and the parity bit create the 5-bit codeword.
• In both cases, the total number of 1s in the codeword is even.

10.22
 The checker at the receiver does the same thing as the generator in the sender
with one exception: The addition is done over all 5 bits.
The result, which is called the syndrome, is just 1 bit.
The syndrome is 0 when the number of 1s in the received codeword is even;
otherwise, it is 1. If the syndrome is 0, there is no error in the received
codeword.
Table 10.3 Simple parity-check code C(5, 4)

10.23
 Example 10.12

Let us look at some transmission scenarios. Assume the

sender sends the dataword 1011. The codeword created
from this dataword is 10111, which is sent to the receiver.
We examine five cases:

1. No error occurs; the received codeword is 10111. The

syndrome is 0. The dataword 1011 is created.
2. One single-bit error changes a1 . The received
codeword is 10011. The syndrome is 1. No dataword
is created.
3. One single-bit error changes r0 . The received codeword
is 10110. The syndrome is 1. No dataword is created.
10.24
 Example 10.12 (continued)

4. An error changes r0 and a second error changes a3 .

The received codeword is 00110. The syndrome is 0.
The dataword 0011 is created at the receiver. Note that
here the dataword is wrongly created due to the
syndrome value.
5. Three bits—a3, a2, and a1—are changed by errors.
The received codeword is 01011. The syndrome is 1.
The dataword is not created.

This shows that the simple parity check, guaranteed to

detect one single error, can also find any odd number of
errors.
10.25
 Note

Hamming codes were originally designed with

dmin = 3, which means that they can detect up to
two errors or correct one single error.
First let us find the relationship between n and k in a Hamming code. We
need to choose an integer m >= 3. The values of n and k are then calculated
from n = 2m – 1 and k = n - m. The number of check bits r = m.

For example, if m = 3, then n = 7 and k = 4. This is a Hamming

code C(7, 4) with dmin = 3.

10.26
 Figure 10.12 The structure of the encoder and decoder for a Hamming code
A copy of a 4-bit dataword is fed into the generator that creates three parity
checks r0, r1 and r2. Each parity-check bits handles 3 out of the 4 bits of the dataword.
The checker in the decoder creates a 3-bit syndrome (S0, S1, S2) in which each bit is
the parity check for 4 out of the 7 bits in the received codeword.
r 0 = a 2 + a 1 + a 0 , r 1 = a 3 + a 2 + a1 , r 2 = a 3 + a 1 + a 0
S0 = b2 + b1 + b0 +q0 , S1 = b3 + b2 + b1 +q1 , S2 = b3 + b1 + b0 +q2

10.27
 Table 10.4 Hamming code C(7, 4)

10.28
 Table 10.5 Logical decision made by the correction logic analyzer

• The syndrome values in Table 10.5 are based on the syndrome bit
calculations. For example, if qo is in error, So is the only bit affected; the
syndrome, therefore, is 001.
• If b2 is in error, so and s1 are the bits affected; the syndrome, therefore is
011. Similarly, if b1`is in error, all 3 syndrome bits are affected, and the
syndrome is 111.

10.29
 Example 10.14

We need a dataword of at least 7 bits. Calculate values of

k and n that satisfy this requirement.
Solution
We need to make k = n − m greater than or equal to 7, or
2m − 1 − m ≥ 7.
1. If we set m = 3, the result is n = 23 − 1 and k = 7 − 3,
or 4, which is not acceptable.
2. If we set m = 4, then n = 24 − 1 = 15 and k = 15 − 4 =
11, which satisfies the condition. So the code is
C(15, 11)

10.30
 10-4 CYCLIC CODES

• Cyclic codes are special linear block codes with one

extra property. In a cyclic code, if a codeword is
cyclically shifted (rotated), the result is another
codeword.
• For example, if 1011000 is a codeword and we
cyclically left-shift, then 0110001 is also a
codeword.
• CRC codes are category of these codes

10.31
 Table 10.6 A CRC code with C(7, 4)

10.32
 Figure 10.14 CRC encoder and decoder

10.33
 Figure 10.15 Division in CRC encoder

The generator uses a divisor

of size n- k + 1 (4 here),
predefined and agreed upon.

10.34
 Figure 10.16 Division in the CRC decoder for two cases

10.35
 Figure 10.21 A polynomial to represent a binary word

10.36
 Figure 10.22 CRC division using polynomials

10.37
 10-5 CHECKSUM

The last error detection method we discuss here is

called the checksum. The checksum is used in the
Internet by several protocol.
•Checksum in layer 3 (IP) and layer 4(TCP/UDP) is
an essential function to ensure data integrity across a
network

10.38
 Example 10.18

Suppose our data is a list of five 4-bit numbers that we

want to send to a destination. In addition to sending these
numbers, we send the sum of the numbers. For example,
if the set of numbers is (7, 11, 12, 0, 6), we send (7, 11, 12,
0, 6, 36), where 36 is the sum of the original numbers.
The receiver adds the five numbers and compares the
result with the sum. If the two are the same, the receiver
assumes no error, accepts the five numbers, and discards
the sum. Otherwise, there is an error somewhere and the
data are not accepted.

10.39
 Example 10.19

We can make the job of the receiver easier if we send the

negative (complement) of the sum, called the checksum.
In this case, we send (7, 11, 12, 0, 6, −36). The receiver
can add all the numbers received (including the
checksum). If the result is 0, it assumes no error;
otherwise, there is an error.

10.40
 Example 10.20

How can we represent the number 21 in one’s

complement arithmetic using only four bits?

Solution
The number 21 in binary is 10101 (it needs five bits). We
can wrap the leftmost bit and add it to the four rightmost
bits. We have (0101 + 1) = 0110 or 6.

10.41
 Example 10.21

How can we represent the number −6 in one’s

complement arithmetic using only four bits?

Solution
In one’s complement arithmetic, the negative or
complement of a number is found by inverting all bits.
Positive 6 is 0110; negative 6 is 1001. If we consider only
unsigned numbers, this is 9. In other words, the
complement of 6 is 9. Another way to find the
complement of a number in one’s complement arithmetic
is to subtract the number from 2n − 1 (16 − 1 in this case).

10.42
 Example 10.22

Let us redo Exercise 10.19 using one’s complement

arithmetic. Figure 10.22 shows the process at the sender
and at the receiver. The sender initializes the checksum
to 0 and adds all data items and the checksum (the
checksum is considered as one data item and is shown in
color). The result is 36. However, 36 cannot be expressed
in 4 bits. The extra two bits are wrapped and added with
the sum to create the wrapped sum value 6. In the figure,
we have shown the details in binary. The sum is then
complemented, resulting in the checksum value 9 (15 − 6
= 9). The sender now sends six data items to the receiver
including the checksum 9.
10.43
 Example 10.22 (continued)

The receiver follows the same procedure as the sender. It

adds all data items (including the checksum); the result
is 45. The sum is wrapped and becomes 15. The wrapped
sum is complemented and becomes 0. Since the value of
the checksum is 0, this means that the data is not
corrupted. The receiver drops the checksum and keeps
the other data items. If the checksum is not zero, the
entire packet is dropped.

10.44
 Figure 10.24 Example 10.22

10.45
 Note

Sender side:
1. The message is divided into 16-bit words.
2. The value of the checksum word is set to 0.
3. All words including the checksum are
added using one’s complement addition.
4. The sum is complemented and becomes the
checksum.
5. The checksum is sent with the data.

10.46
 Note

Receiver side:
1. The message (including checksum) is
divided into 16-bit words.
2. All words are added using one’s
complement addition.
3. The sum is complemented and becomes the
new checksum.
4. If the value of checksum is 0, the message
is accepted; otherwise, it is rejected.

10.47
 FLOW AND ERROR CONTROL

The most important responsibilities of the data link

layer are flow control and error control. Collectively,
these functions are known as data link control.

Topics discussed in this section:

Flow Control
Error Control

11.48
 Note

Flow control refers to a set of procedures

used to restrict the amount of data
that the sender can send before
waiting for acknowledgment.

11.49
 Note

Error control in the data link layer is

based on automatic repeat request,
which is the retransmission of data.

11.50
 Error Free Transmission

• Data link layer can combine framing, flow control, and error control
to achieve the delivery of data from one node to another.
• Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount
of data that the sender can send before waiting for acknowledgment.
• Uses buffer mechanism at receiver
• Retransmission using ARQ for lost or corrupted frames.

No flow/error control

Sends one frame, stops until it receives

confirmation. Reduces buffer overload at
receiver.

10.51
 • In Stop-and-Wait ARQ, we keep a copy of the
sent (one) frame and retransmit the frame when the
timer expires (Error correction).
• Use sequence numbers to number the frames
• In Go-Back-N, we can send several frames
before receiving acknowledgments; we keep a copy
of these frames until the acknowledgments arrive.
• If frame N has not been acknowledged; the sender goes
back and sends frames N onward again.
• Only the damaged frame is resent. This mechanism
is called Selective Repeat ARQ. It is more efficient
for noisy links, but the processing at the receiver is
more complex.

10.52