Joint lossless-source and channel coding using automatic repeat request

The susceptibility of arithmetic coding to errors is utilized for channel error recovery using an automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme. The presented scheme optimizes the tradeoff between the redundancy added to overcome channel errors and detection capability. With this approach, the type of error pattern introduced by the channel does not affect the receiver's detection capability. This scheme is suitable for transmitting long files over low bit error rate channels, and it provides the assurance of reconstructing the original data, free from catastrophic errors.