CRC or Cyclic Redundancy Check is a method of detecting accidental changes/errors in the
communication channel.
CRC uses Generator Polynomial which is available on both sender and receiver side. An example
generator polynomial is of the form like x3 + x + 1. This generator polynomial represents key 1011.
Another example is x2 + 1 that represents key 101.
n : Number of bits in data to be sent
from sender side.
k : Number of bits in the key obtained
from generator polynomial.
Sender Side (Generation of Encoded Data from Data and Generator Polynomial (or Key)):
1. The binary data is first augmented by adding k-1 zeros in the end of the data
2. Use modulo-2 binary division to divide binary data by the key and store remainder of
division.
3. Append the remainder at the end of the data to form the encoded data and send the same
Receiver Side (Check if there are errors introduced in transmission)
Perform modulo-2 division again and if the remainder is 0, then there are no errors.
In this article we will focus only on finding the remainder i.e. check word and the code word.
Modulo 2 Division:
The process of modulo-2 binary division is the same as the familiar division process we use for
decimal numbers. Just that instead of subtraction, we use XOR here.
● In each step, a copy of the divisor (or data) is XORed with the k bits of the dividend (or key).
● The result of the XOR operation (remainder) is (n-1) bits, which is used for the next step after
1 extra bit is pulled down to make it n bits long.
● When there are no bits left to pull down, we have a result. The (n-1)-bit remainder which is
appended at the sender side.
Illustration:
Example 1 (No error in transmission):
Data word to be sent - 100100
Key - 1101 [ Or generator polynomial x3 + x2 + 1]
Sender Side:
Therefore, the remainder is 001 and hence the encoded
data sent is 100100001.
Receiver Side:
Code word received at the receiver side 100100001
Therefore, the remainder is all zeros. Hence, the
data received has no error.
Example 2: (Error in transmission)
Data word to be sent - 100100
Key - 1101
Sender Side:
Therefore, the remainder is 001 and hence the
code word sent is 100100001.
Receiver Side
Let there be an error in transmission media
Code word received at the receiver side - 100000001
Since the remainder is not all zeroes, the error
is detected at the receiver side.
