Description
Checksum code that divides a binary string into 16-bit words and appends the one’s complement of their one’s complement sum [3]. One’s complement addition of 16-bit words is addition modulo \(2^{16}-1\). A received string passes the check when all of its words, including the checksum, sum to zero modulo \(2^{16}-1\).Protection
Detects all burst errors of length at most 15, including all single-bit errors [4; Sec. 3.3]. Errors that preserve the sum modulo \(2^{16}-1\) go undetected, e.g., reordering the 16-bit words or changing a word from all zeros to all ones [4; Sec. 3.3].Realizations
Internet protocol suite: error detection for IPv4 headers and for TCP and UDP segments [5–7].Member of code lists
Primary Hierarchy
Parents
The checksum of the Internet checksum code is the one’s complement of the one’s complement sum of the message’s 16-bit words [3].
Internet checksum code
References
- [1]
- J. Postel, DoD Standard Internet Protocol (RFC Editor, 1980) DOI
- [2]
- J. Postel, DoD Standard Transmission Control Protocol (RFC Editor, 1980) DOI
- [3]
- R. T. Braden, D. A. Borman, and C. Partridge, Computing the Internet Checksum (RFC Editor, 1988) DOI
- [4]
- T. C. Maxino and P. J. Koopman, “The Effectiveness of Checksums for Embedded Control Networks”, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing 6, 59 (2009) DOI
- [5]
- J. Postel, Internet Protocol (RFC Editor, 1981) DOI
- [6]
- J. Postel, Transmission Control Protocol (RFC Editor, 1981) DOI
- [7]
- J. Postel, User Datagram Protocol (RFC Editor, 1980) DOI
Page edit log
- Vaibhav Vasudevan (2025-12-29) — most recent
Cite as:
“Internet checksum code”, The Error Correction Zoo (V. V. Albert & P. Faist, eds.), 2025. https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/internet_checksum, arXiv:2606.11484