We consider linear network error correction (LNEC) coding when errors may occur on edges of a communication network of which the topology is known. In this paper, we first revisit and explore the framework of LNEC coding, and then unify two well-known LNEC coding approaches. Furthermore, by developing a graph-theoretic approach to the framework of LNEC coding, we obtain a significantly enhanced characterization of the error correction capability of LNEC codes in terms of the minimum distances at the sink nodes. In LNEC coding, the minimum required field size for the existence of LNEC codes, in particular LNEC maximum distance separable (MDS) codes which are a type of most important optimal codes, is an open problem not only of theoretical interest but also of practical importance, because it is closely related to the implementation of the coding scheme in terms of computational complexity and storage requirement. By applying the graph-theoretic approach, we obtain an improved upper bound on the minimum required field size. The improvement over the existing results is in general significant. The improved upper bound, which is graph-theoretic, depends only on the network topology and requirement of the error correction capability but not on a specific code construction. However, this bound is not given in an explicit form. We thus develop an efficient algorithm that can compute the bound in linear time. In developing the upper bound and the efficient algorithm for computing this bound, various graph-theoretic concepts are introduced. These concepts appear to be of fundamental interest in graph theory and they may have further applications in graph theory and beyond.
Unary coding has found applications in data compression, neural network training, and in explaining the production mechanism of birdsong. Unary coding is redundant; therefore it should have inherent error correction capacity. An expression for the error correction capability of unary coding for the correction of single errors has been derived in this paper.
This purpose of this letter is to handle a gap that was found in the proof of Theorem 2 in the paper "The generalized stochastic likelihood decoder: random coding and expurgated bounds."
We present new applications on $q$-binomials, also known as Gaussian binomial coefficients. Our main theorems determine cardinalities of certain error-correcting codes based on Varshamov-Tenengolts codes and prove a curious phenomenon relating to deletion sphere for specific cases.
Network coding is commonly used to improve the energy efficiency of network-wide broadcasting in wireless multi-hop networks. In this work, we focus on XOR-based broadcasting in mobile ad hoc networks with multiple sources. We make the observation that the common approach, which is to benefit from the synergy of XOR network coding with a CDS-based broadcast algorithm, suffers performance breakdowns. After delving into the details of this synergy, we attribute this behavior to an important mechanism of the underlying broadcast algorithm, known as the "termination criterion". To tackle the probl…
The problem of error correction in both coherent and noncoherent network coding is considered under an adversarial model. For coherent network coding, where knowledge of the network topology and network code is assumed at the source and destination nodes, the error correction capability of an (outer) code is succinctly described by the rank metric; as a consequence, it is shown that universal network error correcting codes achieving the Singleton bound can be easily constructed and efficiently decoded. For noncoherent network coding, where knowledge of the network topology and network code is …
In this paper, two upper bounds on the achievable code rate of linear block codes for multiple phased-burst correction (MPBC) are presented. One bound is constrained to a maximum correctable cyclic burst length within every subblock, or equivalently a constraint on the minimum error free length or gap within every phased-burst. This bound, when reduced to the special case of a bound for single burst correction (SBC), is shown to be the Abramson bound when the cyclic burst length is less than half the block length. The second MPBC bound is developed without the minimum error free gap constraint…
Coherent network error correction is the error-control problem in network coding with the knowledge of the network codes at the source and sink nodes. With respect to a given set of local encoding kernels defining a linear network code, we obtain refined versions of the Hamming bound, the Singleton bound and the Gilbert-Varshamov bound for coherent network error correction. Similar to its classical counterpart, this refined Singleton bound is tight for linear network codes. The tightness of this refined bound is shown by two construction algorithms of linear network codes achieving this bound.…
Differential linear network coding (DLNC) is a precoding scheme for information transmission over random linear networks. By using differential encoding and decoding, the conventional approach of lifting, required for inherent channel sounding, can be omitted and in turn higher transmission rates are supported. However, the scheme is sensitive to variations in the network topology. In this paper, we derive an extended DLNC channel model which includes slow network changes. Based on this, we propose and analyze a suitable channel coding scheme matched to the situation at hand using rank-metric …
We design low-complexity error correction coding schemes for channels that introduce different types of errors and erasures: on the one hand, the proposed schemes can successfully deal with symbol errors and erasures, and, on the other hand, they can also successfully handle phased burst errors and erasures.
Is perfect error correction always worth the trouble? A framework is presented for the analysis of error detection and correction in multi-level systems of communication that takes into account degrees of freedom attended and ignored by different levels of analysis. It follows from this analysis that for a multi-level coding system, skipped or incomplete error correction at many levels can save energy and provide equally good results to perfect correction. This has relevance to approximate computing, and to questions of the robustness of machine learning applications. The finding also has sign…
Recently, network error correction coding (NEC) has been studied extensively. Several bounds in classical coding theory have been extended to network error correction coding, especially the Singleton bound. In this paper, following the research line using the extended global encoding kernels proposed in \cite{zhang-correction}, the refined Singleton bound of NEC can be proved more explicitly. Moreover, we give a constructive proof of the attainability of this bound and indicate that the required field size for the existence of network maximum distance separable (MDS) codes can become smaller f…
This paper studies the capacity of single-source single-sink noiseless networks under adversarial or arbitrary errors on no more than z edges. Unlike prior papers, which assume equal capacities on all links, arbitrary link capacities are considered. Results include new upper bounds, network error correction coding strategies, and examples of network families where our bounds are tight. An example is provided of a network where the capacity is 50% greater than the best rate that can be achieved with linear coding. While coding at the source and sink suffices in networks with equal link capaciti…
The capacity of multiuser networks has been a long-standing problem in information theory. Recently, Avestimehr et al. have proposed a deterministic network model to approximate multiuser wireless networks. This model, known as the ADT network model, takes into account the broadcast nature of wireless medium and interference. We show that the ADT network model can be described within the algebraic network coding framework introduced by Koetter and Medard. We prove that the ADT network problem can be captured by a single matrix, and show that the min-cut of an ADT network is the rank of this ma…
In this paper, we investigate an artificial-intelligence (AI) driven approach to design error correction codes (ECC). Classic error correction code was designed upon coding theory that typically defines code properties (e.g., hamming distance, subchannel reliability, etc.) to reflect code performance. Its code design is to optimize code properties. However, an AI-driven approach doesn't necessarily rely on coding theory any longer. Specifically, we propose a constructor-evaluator framework, in which the code constructor is realized by AI algorithms and the code evaluator provides code performa…
Decreasing transistor sizes and lower voltage swings cause two distinct problems for communication in integrated circuits. First, decreasing inter-wire spacing increases interline capacitive coupling, which adversely affects transmission energy and delay. Second, lower voltage swings render the transmission susceptible to various noise sources. Coding can be used to address both these problems. So-called crosstalk-avoidance codes mitigate capacitive coupling, and traditional error-correction codes introduce resilience against channel errors. Unfortunately, crosstalk-avoidance and error-correct…
Superdense coding promises increased classical capacity and communication security but this advantage may be undermined by noise in the quantum channel. We present a numerical study of how forward error correction (FEC) applied to the encoded classical message can be used to mitigate against quantum channel noise. By studying the bit error rate under different FEC codes, we identify the unique role that burst errors play in superdense coding, and we show how these can be mitigated against by interleaving the FEC codewords prior to transmission. We conclude that classical FEC with interleaving …
A problem of index coding with side information was first considered by Y. Birk and T. Kol (IEEE INFOCOM, 1998). In the present work, a generalization of index coding scheme, where transmitted symbols are subject to errors, is studied. Error-correcting methods for such a scheme, and their parameters, are investigated. In particular, the following question is discussed: given the side information hypergraph of index coding scheme and the maximal number of erroneous symbols $δ$, what is the shortest length of a linear index code, such that every receiver is able to recover the required informati…
We present a constraint-coding scheme to correct asymmetric magnitude-$1$ errors in multi-level non-volatile memories. For large numbers of such errors, the scheme is shown to deliver better correction capability compared to known alternatives, while admitting low-complexity of decoding. Our results include an algebraic formulation of the constraint, necessary and sufficient conditions for correctability, a maximum-likelihood decoder running in complexity linear in the alphabet size, and upper bounds on the probability of failing to correct $t$ errors. Besides the superior rate-correction trad…
This paper introduces a new counting code. Its design was motivated by distributed video coding where, for decoding, error correction methods are applied to improve predictions. Those error corrections sometimes fail which results in decoded values worse than the initial prediction. Our code exploits the fact that bit errors are relatively unlikely events: more than a few bit errors in a decoded pixel value are rare. With a carefully designed counting code combined with a prediction those bit errors can be corrected and sometimes the original pixel value recovered. The error correction improve…
In this paper, for the purposes of information transmission and network error correction simultaneously, three classes of important linear network codes in network coding, linear multicast/broadcast/dispersion codes are generalized to linear network error correction coding, i.e., linear network error correction multicast/broadcast/dispersion codes. We further propose the (weakly, strongly) extended Singleton bounds for these new classes of codes, and define the optimal codes satisfying the corresponding Singleton bounds with equality, which are called multicast/broadcast/dispersion MDS codes r…
Index coding is a source coding problem in which a broadcaster seeks to meet the different demands of several users, each of whom is assumed to have some prior information on the data held by the sender. If the sender knows its clients' requests and their side-information sets, then the number of packet transmissions required to satisfy all users' demands can be greatly reduced if the data is encoded before sending. The collection of side-information indices as well as the indices of the requested data is described as an instance of the index coding with side-information (ICSI) problem. The en…
A problem of index coding with side information was first considered by Y. Birk and T. Kol (IEEE INFOCOM, 1998). In the present work, a generalization of index coding scheme, where transmitted symbols are subject to errors, is studied. Error-correcting methods for such a scheme, and their parameters, are investigated. In particular, the following question is discussed: given the side information hypergraph of index coding scheme and the maximal number of erroneous symbols $δ$, what is the shortest length of a linear index code, such that every receiver is able to recover the required informati…
The analysis of random coding error exponents pertaining to erasure/list decoding, due to Forney, is revisited. Instead of using Jensen's inequality as well as some other inequalities in the derivation, we demonstrate that an exponentially tight analysis can be carried out by assessing the relevant moments of a certain distance enumerator. The resulting bound has the following advantages: (i) it is at least as tight as Forney's bound, (ii) under certain symmetry conditions associated with the channel and the random coding distribution, it is simpler than Forney's bound in the sense that it inv…
Physical Unclonable Functions can be used for secure key generation in cryptographic applications. It is explained how methods from coding theory must be applied in order to ensure reliable key regeneration. Based on previous work, we show ways how to obtain better results with respect to error probability and codeword length. Also, an example based on Generalized Concatenated codes is given, which improves upon used coding schemes for PUFs.
Visible light communication (VLC) could provide short-range optical wireless communication together with illumination using LED lighting. However, conventional forward error correction (FEC) codes for reliable communication do not have the features for dimming support and flicker mitigation which are required in VLC for the main functionality of lighting. Therefore, auxiliary coding techniques are usually needed, which eventually reduce the coding efficiency and increase the complexity. In this paper, a polar codes-based FEC coding scheme for dimmable VLC is proposed to increase the coding eff…
We show that solving a multiple-unicast network coding problem can be reduced to solving a single-unicast network error correction problem, where an adversary may jam at most a single edge in the network. Specifically, we present an efficient reduction that maps a multiple-unicast network coding instance to a network error correction instance while preserving feasibility. The reduction holds for both the zero probability of error model and the vanishing probability of error model. Previous reductions are restricted to the zero-error case. As an application of the reduction, we present a constr…
This paper proposes a novel deep learning-based error correction coding scheme for AWGN channels under the constraint of one-bit quantization in the receivers. Specifically, it is first shown that the optimum error correction code that minimizes the probability of bit error can be obtained by perfectly training a special autoencoder, in which "perfectly" refers to converging the global minima. However, perfect training is not possible in most cases. To approach the performance of a perfectly trained autoencoder with a suboptimum training, we propose utilizing turbo codes as an implicit regular…
Rank weights and generalized rank weights have been proven to characterize error and erasure correction, and information leakage in linear network coding, in the same way as Hamming weights and generalized Hamming weights describe classical error and erasure correction, and information leakage in wire-tap channels of type II and code-based secret sharing. Although many similarities between both cases have been established and proven in the literature, many other known results in the Hamming case, such as bounds or characterizations of weight-preserving maps, have not been translated to the ran…
Shannon's seminal 1948 work gave rise to two distinct areas of research: information theory and mathematical coding theory. While information theory has had a strong influence on theoretical neuroscience, ideas from mathematical coding theory have received considerably less attention. Here we take a new look at combinatorial neural codes from a mathematical coding theory perspective, examining the error correction capabilities of familiar receptive field codes (RF codes). We find, perhaps surprisingly, that the high levels of redundancy present in these codes does not support accurate error co…
In a recent paper, Jaggi et al. (INFOCOM 2007), presented a distributed polynomial-time rate-optimal network-coding scheme that works in the presence of Byzantine faults. We revisit their adversarial models and augment them with three, arguably realistic, models. In each of the models, we present a distributed scheme that demonstrates the usefulness of the model. In particular, all of the schemes obtain optimal rate $C-z$, where $C$ is the network capacity and $z$ is a bound on the number of links controlled by the adversary.
In this work we study zero vs. epsilon-error capacity in network coding instances. For multicast network coding it is well known that all rates that can be delivered with arbitrarily small error probability can also be delivered with zero error probability; that is, the epsilon-error multicast capacity region and zero-error multicast capacity region are identical. For general network coding instances in which all sources originate at the same source node, Chan and Grant recently showed [ISIT 2010] that, again, epsilon-error communication has no rate advantage over zero-error communication. We …
The universal secure network coding presented by Silva et al. realizes secure and reliable transmission of a secret message over any underlying network code, by using maximum rank distance codes. Inspired by their result, this paper considers the secure network coding based on arbitrary linear codes, and investigates its security performance and error correction capability that are guaranteed independently of the underlying network code. The security performance and error correction capability are said to be universal when they are independent of underlying network codes. This paper introduces…
Network coding increases throughput and is robust against failures and erasures. However, since it allows mixing of information within the network, a single corrupted packet generated by a Byzantine attacker can easily contaminate the information to multiple destinations. In this paper, we study the transmission overhead associated with three different schemes for detecting Byzantine adversaries at a node using network coding: end-to-end error correction, packet-based Byzantine detection scheme, and generation-based Byzantine detection scheme. In end-to-end error correction, it is known that w…
We consider communication over a noisy network under randomized linear network coding. Possible error mechanism include node- or link- failures, Byzantine behavior of nodes, or an over-estimate of the network min-cut. Building on the work of Koetter and Kschischang, we introduce a probabilistic model for errors. We compute the capacity of this channel and we define an error-correction scheme based on random sparse graphs and a low-complexity decoding algorithm. By optimizing over the code degree profile, we show that this construction achieves the channel capacity in complexity which is jointl…
Two-way real-time video communication in wireless networks requires high bandwidth, low delay and error resiliency. This paper addresses these demands by proposing a system with the integration of Network Coding (NC), user cooperation using Randomized Distributed Space-time Coding (R-DSTC) and packet level Forward Error Correction (FEC) under a one-way delay constraint. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms both conventional direct transmission as well as R-DSTC based two-way cooperative transmission, and is most effective when the distance between the user…
By extending the notion of minimum rank distance, this paper introduces two new relative code parameters of a linear code C_1 of length n over a field extension and its subcode C_2. One is called the relative dimension/intersection profile (RDIP), and the other is called the relative generalized rank weight (RGRW). We clarify their basic properties and the relation between the RGRW and the minimum rank distance. As applications of the RDIP and the RGRW, the security performance and the error correction capability of secure network coding, guaranteed independently of the underlying network code…
