On the covering radius of an unrestricted code as a function of the rate and dual distance (Q1383375)

The authors use a linear programming approach to derive upper bounds on the covering radius of a code as a function of its dual distance structure and its cardinality. The idea is to show that the weight distribution of a code and its dual distribution can be related via a polynomial. Selecting this polynomial in a proper manner, an upper bound of the covering radius is obtained. The authors prove that previously obtained upper bounds on the covering radius of codes due to Delsarte, Helleseth et. al., Tietäväinen, resp. Solé and Stokes follow as special cases. Furthermore, an asymptotic improvement of these bounds is given using Chebyshev polynomials.