Sub-optimal burst-correcting cyclic codes

Cyclic codes are considered whose generator polynomials have the form e(x)p(x), where e(x) has degree b-1 with exponent ε(e), p(x) has degree m with exponent (2^m-1)/θ, and c(e)θ|(2^m-1). Conditions on e(x) and p(x) for b-burst correction are given. The probability that a code satisfies the burst correction conditions is estimated. This leads to the definition of a figure of merit μ for a b-burst-correcting [n, n-r] code given by μ=log₂n+2b-r. Some suboptimal b-burst-correcting codes, determined by computer search, are given for 8⩽b⩽24