Patent ID: 8381048

Claim:
A transmitting apparatus connected to a receiving apparatus over n number of channels, n being given by n= 3 t+d+ 1( d≧ 0) where t is a presumed number of faulty channels, in accordance with an (a, b, c) threshold value method in which information data are encoded in c number of distributed information and, while secret information may completely be restored from a or more number of the distributed information, no information data regarding the secret information data can be obtained from up to a-b-1 number of the distributed information, the transmitting apparatus comprising: a unit that generates, from a message, n number of encoded message information data Vi, where i=1, 2, . . . , n, using the (2t+d′+1, d′+t, n) threshold value method, in which a, b and c in the (a, b, c) threshold value method are set so as to be 2t+d′+1, d′+t, and n, respectively, and d′ being such that d≧d′≧0, a unit that generates, using the n number of the encoded message information data Vi and a polynomial of the degree t, faulty channel identifying information data Ai in association with Vi, where i=1, 2, . . . , n, and transmits Vi and Ai, where i=1, 2, . . . , n, from respective corresponding channels, the faulty channel identifying information data enabling detection and correction of an error, if there is any, in t or less number of encoded message information data out of n number of the encoded message information data Vi, by a Reed-Solomon error correction process.