Patent ID: 6981200

Claim:
A method for transmitting digital data in a form of packets through a transmission medium with error correction, each packet being formatted as a fixed number of data words, each data word having more than 1 bit, the method comprising the steps of: (a) encoding a sent data packet to form a sent encoded data packet having an “M” eight-bit bytes Protected Packet and an “n” D-parity field; (b) transmitting the sent encoded data packet through the transmission medium, which may introduce errors into the packet during the transmission, the sent encoded data packet being received as a received encoded data packet at the output of the transmission medium, the received encoded data packet having an “M” eight-bit bytes Protected Packet and an “n” D-parity field, the Protected Packet comprising the sent data packet of the sent encoded data packet and a data packet of the received encoded data packet; (c) checking for errors in the data of the Protected Packet of the received encoded data packet, and if an error occurred, applying an error correction scheme for computing an error correction field for said error and inserting said error correction field in the “n” D-parity field; (d) computing, for said error correction field, an error Syndrome field having “k” error syndrome subfields, and if numbers of bits in the “k” error syndrome subfields are equal, applying the error correction field to correct the error of the sent data packet, otherwise, dropping the sent data packet; and (e) decoding the received encoded data packet to recover a copy of the sent data packet.