The Classification of Some Perfect Codes

Perfect 1-error correcting codes C in Z ₂ ⁿ , where n=2 ^m–1, are considered. Let ; denote the linear span of the words of C and let the rank of C be the dimension of the vector space . It is shown that if the rank of C is n–m+2 then C is equivalent to a code given by a construction of Phelps. These codes are, in case of rank n–m+2, described by a Hamming code H and a set of MDS-codes D _h , h H, over an alphabet with four symbols. The case of rank n–m+1 is much simpler: Any such code is a Vasil'ev code.