In coding theory, a generator matrix is a matrix whose rows form a basis for a linear code. The codewords are all of the linear combinations of the rows of this matrix, that is, the linear code is the row space of its generator matrix.

Terminology

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If G is a matrix, it generates the codewords of a linear code C by

 

where w is a codeword of the linear code C, and s is any input vector. Both w and s are assumed to be row vectors.[1] A generator matrix for a linear  -code has format  , where n is the length of a codeword, k is the number of information bits (the dimension of C as a vector subspace), d is the minimum distance of the code, and q is size of the finite field, that is, the number of symbols in the alphabet (thus, q = 2 indicates a binary code, etc.). The number of redundant bits is denoted by  .

The standard form for a generator matrix is,[2]

 ,

where   is the   identity matrix and P is a   matrix. When the generator matrix is in standard form, the code C is systematic in its first k coordinate positions.[3]

A generator matrix can be used to construct the parity check matrix for a code (and vice versa). If the generator matrix G is in standard form,  , then the parity check matrix for C is[4]

 ,

where   is the transpose of the matrix  . This is a consequence of the fact that a parity check matrix of   is a generator matrix of the dual code  .

G is a   matrix, while H is a   matrix.

Equivalent codes

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Codes C1 and C2 are equivalent (denoted C1 ~ C2) if one code can be obtained from the other via the following two transformations:[5]

  1. arbitrarily permute the components, and
  2. independently scale by a non-zero element any components.

Equivalent codes have the same minimum distance.

The generator matrices of equivalent codes can be obtained from one another via the following elementary operations:[6]

  1. permute rows
  2. scale rows by a nonzero scalar
  3. add rows to other rows
  4. permute columns, and
  5. scale columns by a nonzero scalar.

Thus, we can perform Gaussian elimination on G. Indeed, this allows us to assume that the generator matrix is in the standard form. More precisely, for any matrix G we can find an invertible matrix U such that  , where G and   generate equivalent codes.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ MacKay, David, J.C. (2003). Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780521642989. Because the Hamming code is a linear code, it can be written compactly in terms of matrices as follows. The transmitted codeword   is obtained from the source sequence   by a linear operation,

     

    where   is the generator matrix of the code... I have assumed that   and   are column vectors. If instead they are row vectors, then this equation is replaced by

     

    ... I find it easier to relate to the right-multiplication (...) than the left-multiplication (...). Many coding theory texts use the left-multiplying conventions (...), however. ...The rows of the generator matrix can be viewed as defining the basis vectors.
    {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Ling & Xing 2004, p. 52
  3. ^ Roman 1992, p. 198
  4. ^ Roman 1992, p. 200
  5. ^ Pless 1998, p. 8
  6. ^ Welsh 1988, pp. 54-55

References

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Further reading

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