"Error Correcting Codes with DERIVE for Windows"

Peter Schofield(*)
Trinity & All Saints College
Brownberrie Lane, Horsforth
Leeds   LS18 5HD
United Kingdom
E-mail:p.schofield@tasc.ac.uk



This paper considers ways in which DERIVE for Windows can 
provide mathematics students with a set of powerful tools for 
generating and displaying the large matrices and tables involved in a 
detailed introduction to the study of error correcting codes. 
Examples of how this can be carried out are given for: standard form 
generator and parity-check matrices; codewords and minimum weights;  
syndrome look-up tables; cyclic codes; Hamming codes; Reed-Muller 
codes. Some educational issues will also be dicussed. These relate to 
using DERIVE for Windows to support activities involved in the 
teaching and assessment of the topic.