Question

Course: Computer Architecture
Theme: Internal Memory

What is parity bit? What is Hamming code? Give examples.

Answer 1

A parity bit is basically considered as an extra bit by which a number becomes either even or odd.

In hamming code there are 3 parity bits which are used to detect and correct the single bit error.

There are two types of parity bits:-

1. Even parity:- If the total number of ones in the data including the parity bit is an even number, it is called even parity.
2. Odd parity:- If the total number of ones in the data including the parity bit is an odd number, it is called odd parity.

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Hamming code is basically a technique or we can say that it is a linear code that is used for error correction and detection.

Hamming code includes 7 bits out of which 4 are data bits and 3 are parity bits.

The limitation of hamming code is that it can detect up to two bits error but can correct only a single bit error.

Example of hamming code:-