Also known as: Hamming code

Hamming codes are simple block error-correction codes that correct single-bit errors (and detect two) using a handful of parity-check bits.¹ They are named for Richard Hamming.

A Hamming code interleaves parity bits that locate and correct a single bit error per block.

How it works

Parity bits cover overlapping subsets of the data so that the pattern of failed checks (the syndrome) points directly at the erroneous bit. Variants such as Hamming(20,8) appear in digital radio link control.

Relevance to SDR

Hamming coding protects small control fields in several digital protocols, contributing to robust decoding.

Sources

1. Hamming code — Wikipedia, for the parity-check construction, syndrome decoding, and Richard Hamming’s origin. ↩

See also

• Forward error correction (FEC)
• Golay code
• BCH code
• Richard Hamming
• Cyclic redundancy check (CRC)

Learn it step by step

• The demodulation pipeline

From the blog

• SDR Internals, Part 9: Framing & forward error correction