Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Robert B. Ellis
Texas A&M Dept. of Mathematics
Andrew B. Kahng
UCSD Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering
Covering Codes
Definition: A code is a subset of the set of binary n-strings. The
(Hamming) distance d(S,T) between two strings S and T is the
number of coordinates at which they differ.
Compression
WANT: 1010
USE: 1110
ID: 00
00
01
10
11
Asymmetric Loss
What if only certain types of loss are allowed? For example,
we can prohibit changes from 1s to 0s -- invalidating the
1010 -> 1110 change from before.
Definition: An asymmetric covering code of radius R is a
code C such that, for any binary n-string S, there is some
element c of C which can be turned into S by flipping at
most R 0s to 1s.
Balls
Define the (asymmetric) ball of radius R about the vector
(string) x to be the set of strings reachable from the vector
x by changing at most R ones to zeroes.
Questions
How large is the smallest possible asymmetric
covering code of radius R on n bits? Call this
number K+(n,R).
Interesting cases:
1. R is constant.
2. n-R (the coradius) is constant.
3. Everything else.
V3 (3;1) = 4
V3 (2;1) = 3
V3 (1;1) = 2
V3 (0;1) = 1
Definition. Vn(R):
size of symmetric ball of radius R in Qn
Vn (k;R): size of asymmetric ball of radius R about a point of weight k
n
Vn(R) = i
i0
R
Vn (k;R)
i 0 i
R
2n
K(n,R)
Vn (R)
2n
2 n
R
R
n
n
i 0 i
n
n
n
k
2 n
K+(n,R) R k n R
k 0 V (k R; R)
k 0
n
i 0 i
Proof.
There are
n
k
Upper bounds?
How close can we come to the sphere-covering lower bound?
Theorem: The size of a minimal (symmetric) covering code of
constant radius R is (2n/nR).
The construction is linear, i.e., produces a code which is a linear
subspace of GF(2)n.
This is a problem, because the algebraic structure of Hamming
space shows no respect at all for the asymmetric covering relation.
In fact, minimal linear asymmetric covering codes turn out to be
HUGE, like (2n).
A Random Approach
Lets try choosing a set of codewords randomly. Let the
probability of picking a point x be proportional to log n divided by
the number of points which x covers.
A Tool
For asymmetric covering codes C1 and C2, define the direct
sum to be all concatenations of strings from C1 and C2:
Did it help?
Theorem. K+(n,R) = (2n/nR).
?? Open Questions ??
This construction gives an exponential upper bound for (R) and
?
?
(R). Van Vu has given an upper bound of cR log R for both.
0
R\n
1
1
1
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2
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3
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6
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10
6
18
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
8
8
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
8
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
7
31
8
58
9
10
93162106
196
13-15 20-25 32-46 52-81
6-7
9-13 14-21 22-36
4
6
8-11 12-16
3
4
6
8-9
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
1
1
2
3
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1