Patent ID: 7956772

Claim:
A method for encoding data to be transmitted over a communications channel that could possibly introduce errors or erasures, wherein source data is represented by an ordered plurality of source symbols and the source data can be recovered from encoded symbols that are transmitted, the method comprising: determining encoding parameters including at least a number, K, representing the number of source symbols to be encoded in an instance of encoding; generating a plurality of K+R input symbols from at least some of the source symbols; determining a number T, representing the number of input symbols that are to be treated as permanently inactivated symbols; determining which T symbols of the input symbols are to be designated as permanently inactivated symbols; generating output symbols using an encoder that outputs output symbols that are generated based on the K+R−T input symbols that are not designated as permanently inactivated, wherein the generated output symbols can be independent of values of the permanently inactivated symbols; and generating an encoded symbol set, wherein each encoded symbol in the encoded symbol set is formed by an operation that takes as operands one of the output symbols and one or more of the permanently inactivated symbols.