- Cyclic Redundancy Check
- A Cyclic Redundancy Check is a method of detecting errors in a block of data by performing a math calculation on a stream of data in such a way that the final calculated CRC value is a relatively unique value and unlikely to occur with a different stream of data. Thus, the CRC value can be used to verify the integrity of the data being stored or transmitted.
The CRC value is guaranteed to be sufficiently unique that any pattern of data that differs by even a single bit has almost no chance of producing the same CRC value. Thus, it becomes possible to detect whether a block of data was corrupted in the process of being transferred. CRC checking is very fast because it performs a mathematical calculation as opposed to a lookup or crosscheck. It does not guarantee 100% accuracy, but it is sufficient for most applications.
CRC checking is used in Telecom circuits over microwave and dedicated lines and is used in ATM, Digital Signalling, Ethernet, FDDI, Token Ring and many other protocols. computer systems perform internal CRC checking when accessing large blocks of data from hard disks or transferring data over serial connections or network cards.
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