Block code
Description
A code defined on a block of \(n\) symbols, with each symbol taken from some fixed possibly infinite alphabet \(\Sigma\) [1; Ch. 3]. Such alphabets include bits, Galois fields, rings, or real numbers, and the overall alphabet of the code is \(\Sigma^n\). In this context, \(n\) is called the length of the code. In some cases, there are conditions on which length-\(n\) strings are available to the codes. For example, in the case of spherical codes, one is constrained to \(n\)-dimensional real vectors on the unit sphere.
An alternative more stringent definition (not used here) is in terms of a map encoding logical information from \(\Sigma^k\) into \(\Sigma^n\), yielding an \((n,k,d)_{\Sigma}\) block code, where \(d\) is the code distance.
Protection
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References
- [1]
- J. H. van Lint, Introduction to Coding Theory (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1999) DOI
Page edit log
- Victor V. Albert (2023-02-14) — most recent
Cite as:
“Block code”, The Error Correction Zoo (V. V. Albert & P. Faist, eds.), 2023. https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/block