On Lower Bounds For Covering Codes

We study lower bounds on K(n,R), the minimum number of codewords of any binary code of length n such that the Hamming spheres of radius R with center at codewords cover the Hamming space . We generalize Honkala's idea toobtain further improvements only by using some simple observationsof Zhang's result. This leads to nineteen improvements of thelower bound on K(n,R) within the range of .     

Bounds for Covering Codes over Large Alphabets

Let K_q(n,R) denote the minimum number of codewords in any q-ary code of length n and covering radius R. We collect lower and upper bounds for K_q(n,R) where 6 ≤ q ≤ 21 and R ≤ 3. For q ≤ 10, we consider lengths n ≤ 10, and for q ≥ 11, we consider n ≤ 8. This extends earlier results, which have been tabulated for 2 ≤ q ≤ 5. We survey known bounds and obtain some new results as well, also for s-surjective codes, which are closely related to covering codes and utilized in some of the constructions.AMS Classification: 94B75, 94B25, 94B65Gerzson Kéri - Supported in part by the Hungarian National Research Fund, Grant No. OTKA-T029572.Patric R. J. Östergård - Supported in part by the Academy of Finland, Grants No. 100500 and No. 202315.     

On the Covering Radius of Ternary Extremal Self-Dual Codes

In this paper, we investigate the covering radius of ternary extremal self-dual codes. The covering radii of all ternary extremal self-dual codes of lengths up to 20 were previously known. The complete coset weight distributions of the two inequivalent extremal self-dual codes of length 24 are determined. As a consequence, it is shown that every extremal ternary self-dual code of length up to 24 has covering radius which meets the Delsarte bound. The first example of a ternary extremal self-dual code with covering radius which does not meet the Delsarte bound is also found. It is worth mentioning that the found code is of length 32.     

Hypergraphical Codes Arising from Binary Trades

By considering the null space of incidence matrices of trivial designs over GF(2) (the space of 1- (v,k) trades overGF(2)) we obtain families of codes which are optimal for some v and k. Moreover, by generalizing the concept of bond space, the weight enumerator polynomials for these codes are obtained.     

New Linear Codes with Covering Radius 2 and Odd Basis

On the way of generalizing recent results by Cock and the second author, it is shown that when the basis q is odd, BCH codes can be lengthened to obtain new codes with covering radius R=2. These constructions (together with a lengthening construction by the first author) give new infinite families of linear covering codes with codimension r=2k+1 (the case q=3, r=4k+1 was considered earlier). New code families with r=4k are also obtained. An updated table of upper bounds on the length function for linear codes with 24, R=2, and q=3,5 is given.     

Constructing Covering Codes with Given Automorphisms

Let K(n,r) denote the minimum cardinality of a binary covering code of length n and covering radius r. Constructions of covering codes give upper bounds on K(n,r). It is here shown how computer searches for covering codes can be sped up by requiring that the code has a given (not necessarily full) automorphism group. Tabu search is used to find orbits of words that lead to a covering. In particular, a code D found which proves K(13,1) 704, a new record. A direct construction of D given, and its full automorphism group is shown to be the general linear group GL(3,3). It is proved that D is a perfect dominating set (each word not in D is covered by exactly one word in D) and is a counterexample to the recent Uniformity Conjecture of Weichsel.     

On the Binary Codes of Steiner Triple Systems

The binary code spanned by the rows of the point byblock incidence matrix of a Steiner triple system STS(v)is studied. A sufficient condition for such a code to containa unique equivalence class of STS(v)'s of maximalrank within the code is proved. The code of the classical Steinertriple system defined by the lines in PG(n-1,2)(n3), or AG(n,3) (n3) is shown to contain exactly v codewordsof weight r=(v-1)/2, hence the system is characterizedby its code. In addition, the code of the projective STS(2ⁿ-1)is characterized as the unique (up to equivalence) binary linearcode with the given parameters and weight distribution. In general,the number of STS(v)'s contained in the code dependson the geometry of the codewords of weight r. Itis demonstrated that the ovals and hyperovals of the definingSTS(v) play a crucial role in this geometry. Thisrelation is utilized for the construction of some infinite classesof Steiner triple systems without ovals.     

A New Table of Binary/Ternary Mixed Covering Codes

A table of upper bounds for K3,2(n1,n2;R), the minimum number of codewords in a covering code with n1 ternary coordinates, n2 binary coordinates, and covering radius R, in the range n = n1 + n2 13, R 3, is presented. Explicit constructions of codes are given to prove the new bounds and verify old bounds. These binary/ternary covering codes can be used as systems for the football pool game. The results include a new binary code with covering radius 1 proving K2(13,1) 736, and the following upper bound for the football pool problem for 9 matches: K3(9,1) 1356.     

Exact Bounds on the Sizes of Covering Codes

A code c is a covering code of X with radius r if every element of X is within Hamming distance r from at least one codeword from c. The minimum size of such a c is denoted by c _r(X). Answering a question of Hämäläinen et al. [10], we show further connections between Turán theory and constant weight covering codes. Our main tool is the theory of supersaturated hypergraphs. In particular, for n > n ₀(r) we give the exact minimum number of Hamming balls of radius r required to cover a Hamming ball of radius r + 2 in {0, 1}ⁿ. We prove that c _r(B _n(0, r + 2)) = _{1 i r + 1} ( ^{(n + i – 1) / (r + 1) 2}) + n / (r + 1) and that the centers of the covering balls B(x, r) can be obtained by taking all pairs in the parts of an (r + 1)-partition of the n-set and by taking the singletons in one of the parts.     

New Constructions of Covering Codes

Coveringcode constructions obtaining new codes from starting ones weredeveloped during last years. In this work we propose new constructionsof such kind. New linear and nonlinear covering codes and aninfinite families of those are obtained with the help of constructionsproposed. A table of new upper bounds on the length functionis given.     

Binary Quasi-Cyclic Goppa Codes

We obtain here a necessary and sufficient condition for a certain class of binary Goppa code to be quasi-cyclic. We also give another sufficient condition which is easier to check. We define a class of quasi-cyclic Goppa codes. We find the true dimension for a part of those quasi-cyclic codes. and also a class of extended quasi-cyclic codes the minimum distance of which is equal to the designed distance.     

An Enumeration of Binary Self-Dual Codes of Length 32

A binary self-dual code of length 2k is a (2k, k) binary linear code C with the property that every pair of codewords in C are orthogonal. Two self-dual codes, C ₁ and C ₂, are equivalent if and only if there is a permutation of the coordinates of C ₁ that takes C ₁ into C ₂. The automorphism group of a binary code C is the set of all permutations of the coordinates of C that takes C into itself.The main topic of this paper is the enumeration of inequivalent binary self-dual codes. We have developed algorithms that will take lists of inequivalent small codes and produce lists of larger codes where each inequivalent code occurs only a few times. We have defined a canonical form for codes that allowed us to eliminate the overenumeration. So we have lists of inequivalent binary self-dual codes of length up to 32. The enumeration of the length 32 codes is new. Our algorithm also finds the size of the automorphism group so that we can compute the number of distinct binary self-dual codes for a specific length. This number can also be found by counting and matches our total.     

On Intersection Problem for Perfect Binary Codes

The main result is that to any even integer q in the interval 0 ≤ q ≤ 2^{n+1-2log(n+1)}, there are two perfect codes C₁ and C₂ of length n = 2^m − 1, m ≥ 4, such that |C₁ ∩ C₂| = q.     

The Length of Primitive BCH Codes with Minimal Covering Radius

It is proved that the covering radius of a primitive binary BCH code of length q-1 and designed distance 2t+1, where is exactly 2t-1 (the minimum value possible). The bound for q is significantly lower than the one obtained by O. Moreno and C. J. Moreno [9].     

Two New Four-Error-Correcting Binary Codes

Two four-error-correcting binary codes of length 21 and 22 and of cardinality 64 and 80, respectively, are constructed. The codes consist of a union of cosets of linear codes with dimension 3 and were found by a maximum clique algorithm.     

Binary Codes of Strongly Regular Graphs

For strongly regular graphs ith adjacency matrix A, we look at the binary codes generated by A and A + I. We determine these codes for some families of graphs, e pay attention to the relation beteen the codes of switching equivalent graphs and, ith the exception of two parameter sets, we generate by computer the codes of all knon strongly regular graphs on fewer than 45 vertices.     

The Covering Radius of Ternary Cyclic Codes with Length up to 25

The covering radius of all ternary cyclic codes of length up to 25 is given. Some of the results were obtained by computer and for others mathematical reasonings were applied. The minimal distances of all codes were recalculated.     

Binary Optimal Odd Formally Self-Dual Codes

In this paper, we study binary optimal odd formallyself-dual codes. All optimal odd formally self-dual codes areclassified for length up to 16. The highest minimum weight ofany odd formally self-dual codes of length up to 24 is determined. We also show that there is a unique linearcode for parameters [16, 8, 5] and [22, 11, 7], up to equivalence.