History¶
Reed-Solomon codes are error-correcting codes discovered by Irving Reed and Gus Solomon in MIT laboratory in 1960. The paper’s idea was to introduce a new way of coding group of bits as a different way than individual zeros and ones. The paper “Polynomial Codes over Certain Finite Fields” was published in the Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The paper based on highly mathematical approach turned into powerful widely used coding error scheme.
Then, RS have been an essential contributor in telecommunications systems. Thus, nowadays, they become the most frequently digital error code used in the world. They are deployed in computer memory, high-definition televisions, deep space communication systems such as Voyager probes, error control for systems with feedback, spread spectrum systems, digital audio disk and more others.
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