Aim of the experiment

The aim of this experiment is to introduce the basic ideas about linear block codes. The purpose of linear block codes, in the context of this present virtual lab on Modern Coding Theory, is for forward error-correction in communication systems. We present the fundamental objects and parameters associated with binary linear block codes, such as generator matrix of the code, parity-check matrix, the dimension and rate of the code, and its minimum distance.

The goal of the experiment is to make the user aware of these objects and develop an innate understanding of the structure of a binary linear code. The user is expected to know basic idea about modulo-2 operations which occur on the binary field $\mathbb{F}_2$, and matrix-vector multiplication operations of elements from $\mathbb{F}_2$, and the basic notions of linear algebra such as linear independence of vectors, rank of matrices, and rowspace and columnspace of a matrix.

How to use this experiment and this lab?

The user is recommended to try answering the questions in the pre-test before studying the theory part of the present experiment. Later, once the theory part is studied, and the procedure and experiment is practised, then the user can try answering the questions in the post-test. This schema is to be followed for all experiments in this lab by the user who desires to gain a strong understanding of the topics discussed in this lab.