MTH 490-002: Error Correcting Codes
| Instructor: | Mark Iwen |
| Time and Place: | MWF 10:20 AM - 11:10 AM in C514 WH |
| E-mail: | markiwen@math.msu.edu |
| Physical Office: | D220 WH |
| Office Hours: | TBD, and by appointment |
Topics covered will include general Error Correcting Code (ECC) basics (rate, distance, etc.), Hamming codes and bounds, algebraic linear codes (including Reed-Solomon codes, BCH codes, and Reed-Muller codes), random linear codes, the Gilbert-Varshamov bound, and several related modern applications (e.g., group testing and compressive sensing).
Course website for MTH490-002:
http://math.msu.edu/~markiwen/Teaching/MTH810/MTH490_S26.html
The course website has the syllabus and required reading. Any other papers or notes covered in class will also be posted there and/or on the course D2L page.
Textbook:
Essential Coding Theory, by Venkatesan Guruswami, Atri Rudra, and Madhu Sudan (August 26, 2025 draft) Available here.
Though this book is not accessible, an accessible copy will be provided upon request -- please let me know as far in advance as possible if one is needed so that I can work with RCPD to obtain/create one.
Homework:
Homework assignments will be given most weeks and will constitute 50% of your final grade. The homework questions will be assigned in class with their due dates. You must submit your homework solutions during the class period on the due date unless prior permission has been granted to submit otherwise. Late homework assignments will never be graded. The lowest homework score will be dropped when computing your average homework grade. Homework solutions must be original copies in the student's own handwriting/compiled LaTeX. No other submissions will be graded. Solutions must be clear and neatly written to receive credit. A subset of the homework problems will be graded on each assignment.
Midterm Exam:
There will be a midterm exam in class on Friday March 13. It will constitute 20% of your final grade.
Final Exam:
There will be a final exam on TBA in TBA. It will constitute 30% of your final grade.
Grading:
Your final course percentage will be determined by averaging your homework, midterm exam, and final exam percentages with the following weights: Homework (50%), Midterm Exam (20%), and the Final Exam (30%). The result of this weighted average will then be rounded to the nearest integer.
Your final grade (e.g., 3.5, 4.0, etc.) will be assigned according to a class ranking. That is, the weighted averages calculated as above for all the students in the class will be rank ordered. Finally, threshold scores (e.g., a score above which a 4.0 is earned) will be determined, thereby establishing each student's final grade in the class. The threshold scores for each grade will never be higher than those indicated in following table.
| 90% -- 100% | A | 4.0 |
| 85% -- 89% | A-/B+ | 3.5 |
| 80% -- 84% | B | 3.0 |
| 75% -- 79% | B-/C+ | 2.5 |
| 70% -- 74% | C | 2.0 |
| 65% -- 69% | C-/D+ | 1.5 |
| 60% -- 64% | D | 1.0 |
| 0% -- 59% | F | 0.0 |
Incomplete grades will be given only in unusual cases of illness or other personal emergency, which causes the student to miss a significant amount of the course. This grade cannot be given for any other reason.
Academic Integrity:
You are encouraged to work with your peers on solving homework assignments. However, all submitted homework solutions must be written up individually in your own words. Submitting another student's written work (or AI generated solutions) as your own work will be considered plagiarism.