New quaternary linear codes with covering radius 2 (Q1570227)

For a survey of covering codes, see \textit{G. Cohen}, \textit{I. Honkala}, \textit{S. Litsyn} and \textit{A. Lobstein}, Covering Codes (North-Holland, Amsterdam) (1997; Zbl 0874.94001). For given values of \(r\), \(R\) and \(q\), the authors consider the problem of finding \(l(r,R; q)\), the minimum length \(n\) of a linear code with codimension \(r\) and covering radius \(R\) over the finite field \(\mathbb{F}_q\) . Upper bounds on \(l(r,R;q)\) are obtained by constructing corresponding linear codes. The first author has developed methods for constructing infinite series of codes with a given, small covering radius. To apply these constructions effectively, the authors need good starting codes, which they get by algebraic constructions or computer search. A new quaternary linear code of length 19, codimension 5 and covering radius 2 is found in a computer search showing that \(l(5,2;4)\leq 19\). Starting from this code, different lengthening constructions are applied to get an infinite family of new, record-breaking quaternary codes with odd codimension and covering radius 2. An algebraic constrution of covering codes over alphabets of even characteristic is also given. The paper is concluded by giving a table on \(l(r,2;4)\) for \(r\leq 25\).