Subset Codes for Packet Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces subset codes, a new coding framework for packet-switched networks with routing, extending previous subspace code approaches to handle packet errors, deletions, insertions, and reordering.

Contribution

It proposes subset codes tailored for routing-based networks, expanding the coding-theoretic tools for reliable message transmission over packet networks.

Findings

Framework models network as a channel with errors and reordering.

Extends subspace code concepts to subset codes for routing networks.

Provides a theoretical basis for coding in packet-switched networks.

Abstract

In this paper, we present a coding-theoretic framework for message transmission over packet-switched networks. Network is modeled as a channel which can induce packet errors, deletions, insertions, and out of order delivery of packets. The proposed approach can be viewed as an extension of the one introduced by Koetter and Kschischang for networks based on random linear network coding. Namely, while their framework is based on subspace codes and designed for networks in which network nodes perform random linear combining of the packets, ours is based on the so-called subset codes, and is designed for networks employing routing in network nodes.