Information additive group code generator and decoder for communications 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 groups of output symbols, wherein each output symbol is selected from an output alphabet, wherein each group of the plurality of groups is generated by the steps of:
• selecting, from a key alphabet, a key I for the group being generated;
• 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;
• 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 group;
• determining a number, G(I), of output symbols in the group;
• and
• calculating a value B(I) of each output symbol in the group from a predetermined value function of the associated W(I) input symbols;
• c) packetizing at least one of the groups of output symbols of at least one of the plurality of groups 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 groups of output symbols, a group being one or more output symbols wherein each group of the plurality of groups is generated by the steps of:
• a) determining a list AL that indicates W associated input symbols to be associated with the group, where W is a positive integer, at least two groups have different values for W associated therewith, W is greater than one for at least one group, and the number of possible groups is much larger than the number of input symbols in the input file;
• and
• b) generating an output symbol value for each output symbol in the group from a predetermined function of the W associated input symbols indicated by AL;
• and
• transmitting the generated plurality of groups.

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 groups of output symbols for each of the plurality of channels, a group being one or more output symbols, wherein each group of the plurality of groups is generated by the steps of:
• 1) selecting, from a key alphabet, a key I for the group 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 group;
• 4) determining a number, G(I), of output symbols in the group;
• and
• 5) calculating a value B(I) of each of the G(I) output symbols in the group from a predetermined value function of the associated W(I) input symbols;
• c) packetizing at least one of the plurality of groups 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 groups generated with distinct values for key I.