What is CRC? Explain its working with an example.

CRC is based on binary division. In this a sequence of redundant bits, called CRC remainder is appended to the end of a data unit so that the resulting data unit becomes exactly divisible by a second predetermined binary number. At its destination, the incoming data unit is divided by the same number. If at this step there is no reminder, the data unit is assumed to be intact and therefore accepted. A remainder indicates that the data unit has been changed in transit and therefore must be rejected.

Here, the remainder is the CRC. It must have exactly one less bit than the divisor, and appending it to the end of the data string must make the resulting bit sequence exactly divisible by the divisor.

Fig: How CRC Works

First, a string of n-1 0s is appended to the data unit. The number of 0s is one less than the number of bits in the divisor which is n bits. Then the newly elongated data unit is divided by the divisor using a process called binary division. The remainder is CRC. The CRC is replaces the appended 0s at the end of the data unit.

The data unit arrives at the receiver first, followed by the CRC. The receiver treats whole string as the data unit and divides it by the same divisor that was used to find the CRC remainder. If the remainder is 0 then the data unit is error free. Otherwise it having some error and it must be discarded.