Editing Hamming weight (section)

==Minimum weight==
In [[error-correcting code|error-correcting coding]], the minimum Hamming weight, commonly referred to as the '''minimum weight''' ''w''<sub>min</sub> of a code is the weight of the lowest-weight non-zero code word.  The weight ''w'' of a code word is the number of 1s in the word. For example, the word 11001010 has a weight of 4.

In a [[linear block code]] the minimum weight is also the [[minimum Hamming distance]] (''d''<sub>min</sub>) and defines the error correction capability of the code. If ''w''<sub>min</sub>&nbsp;=&nbsp;''n'', then ''d''<sub>min</sub>&nbsp;=&nbsp;''n'' and the code will correct up to ''d''<sub>min</sub>/2 errors.<ref>Stern & Mahmoud, ''Communications System Design'', [[Prentice Hall]], 2004, p&nbsp;477ff.</ref>