The Design and Embodiment of Magnetic Domain Encoders and Single-Error Correcting Decoders for Cyclic Block Codes

The properties of magnetic domains have been studied by A. H. Bobeck, 1 - 3 by A. J. Perneski," by U. F. Gianola, 3 and by A. A. Thiele. 5 ' 6 The applications of such magnetic domains for storage and logic are described by A. H. Bobeck, R. F. Fischer, and A. J. Perneski, 7 ' 8 and by P. I. Bonyhard, et al.9 This paper proposes the possible applications of these results to the construction of encoders and single-error correcting decoders for cyclic block codes. Single-error correcting codes were introduced by R. W. Hamming in 1950.10 In 1960, R. C. Bose and D. K. Ray-Chaudhuri 1 1 formulated a class of multiple-error correcting cyclic codes. W. W. Peterson 12 has presented a variety of logic circuits for encoders and decoders. These circuits conventionally employ semiconductor logic elements. Such circuits are discussed in some detail by R. W. Lucky, J. Salz, and E. J. Weldon, Jr., 13 and by E. R, Berlekamp. 14 The encoders proposed in this paper are for cyclic block codes and the decoders are limited to single-error correcting decoders for such codes. In general, these codes constitute a set of BCH codes named after Bose, Chaudhuri, and A. Hocquenghem. 15 The paper is divided into four parts. Part A provides an insight into the fundamentals necessary for a qualitative understanding of magnetic domain functions. Part B deals with encoders for cyclic block codes and Part C deals 461