Error Detection - Types of errors

Error Detection

When data is transmitted from one device to another device, the system does not guarantee whether the data received by the device is identical to the data transmitted by another device. An Error is a situation when the message received at the receiver end is not identical to the message transmitted. 

Types Of Errors

Single-Bit Error:

 The only one bit of a given data unit is changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. Single bit errors are the least likely type of errors in serial data transmission because the noise must have a very short duration which is very rare. However this kind of errors can happen in parallel transmission.

Brust Error:

 The term burst error means that two or more bits in the data unit have changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.

Burst errors does not necessarily mean that the errors occur in consecutive bits, the length of the burst is measured from the first corrupted bit to the last corrupted bit. Some bits in between may not have been corrupted.

Burst error is most likely to happen in serial transmission since the duration of noise is normally longer than the duration of a bit.

 The number of bits affected depends on the data rate and duration of noise.