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checksum

An amazingly simple error detection scheme in which each transmitted message packet is accompanied by a numerical value based on the number of set bits in the message. The value is appended to the message and becomes a transparent part of the message. The receiving station then applies the same formula to the message and checks to make sure the accompanying numerical value is the same. If not, the receiver can assume that the message has been garbled and there is trouble in Gotham City. In a less complicated way, it is a mathematical calculation applied to the contents of a packet before and after it is sent. If the “before” calculation does not match the “after” calculation, there were errors in the transmission.

checksum.txt · Last modified: 2006/10/15 09:35 (external edit)