Error-correcting codes with feedback

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In mathematics, computer science, telecommunication, information theory, and searching theory, error-correcting codes with feedback refers to error correcting codes designed to work in the presence of feedback from the receiver to the sender.[1]

Problem

Alice (the sender) wishes to send a value x to Bob (the receiver). The communication channel between Alice and Bob is imperfect, and can introduce errors.

Solution

An error-correcting code is a way of encoding x as a message such that Bob will successfully understand the value x as intended by Alice, even if the message Alice sends and the message Bob receives differ. In an error-correcting code with feedback, the channel is two-way: Bob can send feedback to Alice about the message he received.

Noisy feedback

In an error-correcting code without noisy feedback, the feedback received by the sender is always free of errors. In an error-correcting code with noisy feedback, errors can occur in the feedback, as well as in the message.

An error-correcting code with noiseless feedback is equivalent to an adaptive search strategy with errors.[1]

History

In 1956, Claude Shannon introduced the discrete memoryless channel with noiseless feedback. In 1961, Alfréd Rényi introduced the Bar-Kochba game (also known as Twenty questions), with a given percentage of wrong answers, and calculated the minimum number of randomly-chosen questions to determine the answer.

In his 1964 dissertation, Elwyn Berlekamp considered error correcting codes with noiseless feedback.[2] In Berlekamp's scenario, the receiver chose a subset of possible messages and asked the sender whether the given message was in this subset, a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Based on this answer, the receiver then chose a new subset and repeated the process. The game is further complicated due to noise; some of the answers will be wrong.

Sources

  • Deppe, Christian (2007), "Coding with Feedback and Searching with Lies", in Imre Csiszár, Gyula O.H. Katona, and Gabor Tardos (ed.), Entropy, Search, Complexity, Bolyai Society Mathematical Studies, vol. 16, Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 27–70, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-32777-6, ISBN 978-3-540-32573-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link).
  • Hill, Ray (1995), Searching with lies, Cambridge London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, Surveys in Combinatorics, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 41–70, ISBN 0-521-49797-3.

References

See also