Multipath encoder-decoder arrangement

Abstract

Abstract A multipath encoder-decoder arrangement which consists of a plurality of storage devices such as memory cells, for example, which can be shifted from one series configuration into at least a second series configuration. The storage devices or at least a portion of them are switched from a first series path to a second series path. In one configuration, the outputs of all the storage devices are switched to the input of a succeeding storage device in a first path to the input of a different storage device in a second series path. In another embodiment, only a portion of the storage devices in one path are switched to form a series arrangement of storage devices in a second path in conjunction with fixed interconnections between certain other of the storage devices. By simply switching between paths, the order of information can be changed, i.e., interleaved, in such a way that errors which occur in bursts when transmitting data are spread out over the entire message with an inter-error space large enough to improve error correction. By providing control means which controls the shifting of data along the series configurations and the switching between configurations, in accordance with a given key, it is possible to scramble transmitted data at various levels of complexity. The complexity at one level, for example, is provided by a feedback loop connected between the input and output of the series configurations which permits data held in the series paths to be changed in both position and polarity. Another level of complexity can be achieved by modifying the key with another key which has been logically combined with previously transmitted encoded data. After transmission, the data is received and unscrambled in a similar encoder-decoder arrangement except that the decoding process is effectively reversed.

Inventors

• 👤 Edouard Y Rocher
• 👤 Stanley E Schuster

Bibliographic Details