Integer Codes Correcting Single Errors and Detecting Burst Errors Within a Byte

Abstract

Correcting single and detecting adjacent errors has become important in memory systems using high density DRAM chips. The reason is that, in these systems, the strike of a single energetic particle can upset one or more adjacent bits. In this article, we present a simple solution for this problem based on integer codes capable of correcting single errors and detecting l -bit burst errors confined to a b -bit byte ( 1<l<b ). Unlike the classical approach, the proposed one does not rely on the use of dedicated encoding/decoding hardware. Instead, it uses the processor as both encoder and decoder. The effectiveness of such solution is demonstrated on a theoretical model of an eight-core processor. The obtained results show that it has the potential to be used in future DDR5 systems.