Question
What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?
Answer Options
- A) Faster transmission rate
- B) Signal-to-noise ratio is improved
- C) A larger character set is available
- D) Some types of errors can be detected
Correct Answer: D
Explanation
A parity bit is an extra bit added to a binary code word (such as an \text{ASCII} character) to provide a simple, first-level method of error detection. It works by setting the parity bit to either 0 or 1 such that the total number of '1’s in the entire code word (including the parity bit) is always even (even parity) or always odd (odd parity).
If the receiving station recalculates the parity and finds that the received parity (even or odd) does not match the expected parity, it immediately knows the word is corrupted. Therefore, the advantage of including parity bits in \text{ASCII} characters is that some types of errors (specifically, any odd number of bit errors) can be detected, although this simple method cannot correct the error.
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