Error Correcting Codes for Correcting Bursts of Errors

It is observed that the codes of Abramson, Melas and others are essentially described by the characteristic equation that a certain matrix satisfies. Consequently it is found that transformations of these codes are possible provided that the characteristic equation is preserved. These transformations may then be exploited to produce codes that have a simple implementation and, in fact, a general method is indicated by which any code may be implemented when the characteristic equation is known.