New linear codes with covering radius 2 and odd basis (Q1283217)

The covering radius \(R\) of a code of length \(n\), over the finite field \(F_q\) with \(q\) elements, is the smallest integer such that the spheres of radius \(R\) cover the whole space \(F^n_q\). An \([n,n-r]_qR\) code denotes a \(q\)-ary linear code of length \(n\), dimension \(n-r\) and covering radius \(R\). The authors construct new infinite families of covering codes with covering radius \(R=2\) in the case \(q\) odd. The constructions are obtained by extending and lengthening BCH codes in a suitable manner. The paper also studies the length function \(l(r,R;q)\) which denotes the shortest length \(n\) of an \([n,n-r]_qR\) code. Several new upper bounds on \(l(r,R;q)\) are found in the cases when \(R=2\), \(r=2k+1\) and \(r=4k\). A table of upper bounds \(l(r,2;q)\) for \(r\leq 24\) and \(q=3,5\) is given.