Network coding is the process that encodes data before transmission and decodes it upon receipt. It aims to increase network throughput, reduce delays, and make a network more robust.

Network coding, therefore, is performed to make networks work faster, more efficiently, and hassle-free. Network administrators typically do it.

Read More about Network Coding

Network coding, as mentioned earlier, is a means to lessen traffic congestion.

How Does Network Coding Work?

Traditional routing generally caches and forwards packets as they arrive. You can thus say it’s done on a first-come, first-serve basis. So when a network receives two packets from different sources, it forwards them one after another. The other packets are queued even if both are meant for the same recipient. Each bit of traffic requires a separate transmission.

Network coding can, however, hasten the process. How? Programmers can merge multiple messages for the same recipient to be forwarded simultaneously. When they reach their destination, the messages get separated during decoding.

What Is Network Coding For?

Network coding is helpful in wireless mesh, messaging, storage, multicast streaming, file-sharing peer-to-peer (P2P), and other networks where the same data needs to be sent to multiple destinations.

But while network coding makes networks more efficient, it can be complicated and costly. As such, it’s ideal for large rather than small networks.

What Are the Benefits of Network Coding?

Network coding has several benefits. We enumerated some below.

1. Increased Throughput

Increasing throughput is the most significant advantage of network coding. Instead of sending five separate transmissions for the same recipient, for instance, you just send one. That lessens how often the network has to encode data before sending, reducing the chances of network congestion.

2. Guaranteed Robustness

Packet loss that can lead to data corruption occurs in wireless networks. It can result from a buffer overflow, link outage, or collision. By setting up an acknowledgment system, network coding can help you avoid such a hassle. In this setup, the recipient acknowledges receipt of the message. If the receiver doesn’t get the message, the sender gets notified. That way, the sender can resend the unsent message.

In some cases, link failures or the connection between two networks fail. Network coding can create backups so the networks can quickly recover from such errors and communication disruption doesn’t occur.

3. Enhanced Security

In this regard, network coding, which encodes data packets before sending, ensures only recipients who can decode them can read their contents.

4. Automated Scalability

Network coding enables the more efficient use of network resources or bandwidth. Its ability to combine messages intended for the same recipient allows the network to scale better. As a result, the network can automatically adjust to the volume of messages sent.

5. Improved Network Resilience

Network coding, as mentioned earlier, enables backup and recovery. As such, it can guarantee that no data gets corrupted or lost during transmission.

Network coding benefits

What Are the Kinds of Network Coding?

Three types of network coding schemes exist:

  • Random network coding;
  • Vector network coding;
  • Linear network coding.

They are pretty complicated, though, so we won’t dive deeper into them here.

What Industries Can Benefit from Network Coding?

The next-gen Internet of Things (IoT) sector can benefit from network coding in that an efficient IoT setup should ensure low latency and be highly reliable, two advantages the process offers.

Industrial networks meant to transfer data on a massive scale also stand to gain a lot from network coding. It can easily merge packets intended for the same recipient, reducing congestion and consequent transmission delays.

The telecommunications sector needs network coding as well. It is guaranteed to make both wired and wireless networks more robust and efficient.

Any network that requires sending tons of data packets to multiple recipients securely, in fact, can gain a lot from network coding.

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As you’ve seen, large networks, in particular, can benefit from network coding, especially if data loss and security and network congestion are no-nos. 

Key Takeaways

  • Network coding is the process of encoding data before transmission and decoding it upon receipt.
  • Network coding aims to increase network throughput, reduce delays, and make a network more robust.
  • Network coding is helpful in wireless mesh, messaging, storage, multicast streaming, file-sharing peer-to-peer (P2P), and other networks where the same data needs to be sent to multiple destinations.
  • Network coding provides several benefits, including increased throughput, guaranteed robustness, enhanced security, automated scalability, and improved network resilience.
  • Three types of network coding schemes exist—random, vector, and linear network coding.
  • Network coding can significantly benefit the next-gen IoT, industrial, and telecommunications sectors. Any network that requires sending tons of data packets to multiple recipients securely, in fact, can gain a lot from network coding.