Information additive code generator and decoder for communication systems

A method of transmitting data from a source to a destination over a packet communication channel, comprising the steps of:

• a) arranging the data to be transmitted as an ordered set of input symbols, each selected from an input alphabet and having a position in the data;
• b) generating a plurality of output symbols, each selected from an output alphabet, wherein each output symbol of the plurality of output symbols is generated by the steps of:
• 1) selecting, from a key alphabet, a key I for the output symbol being generated;
• 2) determining a weight, W(I), as a function of I, wherein weights W are positive integers that vary between at least two values and over the key alphabet and are greater than one for at least some keys in the key alphabet;
• 3) selecting W(I) of the input symbols according to a function of I, thus forming a list AL(I) of W(I) input symbols associated with the output symbol;
• and
• 4) calculating a value B(I) of the output symbol from a predetermined value function of the associated W(I) input symbols;
• c) packetizing at least one of the plurality of output symbols into each of a plurality of packets;
• d) transmitting the plurality of packets over the packet communication channel;
• e) receiving at least some of the plurality of packets at the destination;
• and
• f) decoding the data from the plurality of received packets.

A method of transmitting the information content of an input file, where the input file is an ordered plurality of input symbols each selected from an input alphabet and the input file is recoverable from a set of output symbols each selected from an output alphabet, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a plurality of output symbols, wherein an output symbol of the plurality of output symbols is generated by the steps of:
• a) determining a list AL that indicates W associated input symbols to be associated with the output symbol, where W is a positive integer, at least two output symbols have different values for W associated therewith, W is greater than one for at least one output symbol, and the number of possible output symbols is much larger than the number of input symbols in the input file;
• and
• b) generating an output symbol value from a predetermined function of the W associated input symbols indicated by AL;
• and
• transmitting the generated plurality of output symbols.

A method of transmitting data from a source through a plurality of channels, comprising the steps of:

• a) arranging the data to be transmitted as an ordered set of input symbols;
• b) generating a plurality of output symbols for each of the plurality of channels, wherein each output symbol is generated by the steps of:
• 1) selecting, from a key alphabet, a key I for the output symbol being generated, wherein the key alphabet contains many more members than the number of input symbols in the ordered set of input symbols;
• 2) determining a weight, W(I), as a function of I, wherein weights W are positive integers that vary between at least two values and are greater than one for at least some keys in the key alphabet;
• 3) selecting W(I) of the input symbols according to a function of I, thus forming a list AL(I) of W(I) input symbols associated with the output symbol;
• and
• 4) calculating a value B(I) of the output symbol from a predetermined value function of the associated W(I) input symbols;
• c) packetizing at least one of the plurality of output symbols into each of a plurality of packets;
• and
• d) transmitting the plurality of packets over the plurality of channels, wherein at least two of the plurality of channels carry packets containing output symbols generated with distinct values for key I.