arXiv subjects

Charul Rajput

Publications and source records attributed to Charul Rajput.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Generalized Function-Correcting Partition Codes

We introduce generalized function-correcting partition codes (GFCPCs) that simultaneously protect multiple partitions of the message space against different numbers of errors. Given partitions with respective distance requirements, a GFCPC is a systematic encoding that guarantees, for each partition, a specified minimum Hamming distance between codewords whose messages lie in different blocks. This framework unifies and generalizes both function-correcting partition codes, which protect multiple functions with a common error-correction level, and function-correcting codes with data protection, which assign different levels of protection to data and a single function. We present a multi-step construction procedure for these codes and demonstrate it with some examples. We derive general upper and lower bounds on the optimal redundancy, including the upper bound which considers the join of different combinations of the partitions. We define the distance requirement matrix $\mathcal{D}$ for the GFCPCs and use it to characterize the optimal redundancy in terms of the shortest length of an associated $\mathcal{D}$-code. For two partitions of message space over the binary field, we establish improved lower bounds on the optimal redundancy under specific neighborhood conditions on the partitions. Through several examples, we demonstrate that the proposed framework can yield strictly smaller redundancy than both the sum of the individual FCPC redundancies and the redundancy of a single FCPC designed for the join partition with the highest distance (strongest protection required).

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arXiv2026

Existence and Constructions of Strict Function-Correcting Codes with Data Protection

Function-correcting codes with data protection simultaneously protect both the data and a function of the data at distinct error-correction levels. When the function receives strictly stronger protection than the data, such a code is called a strict function-correcting code with data protection. While prior work showed that perfect and MDS codes cannot serve as strict function-correcting codes, which codes can serve this role, and how to construct them, has remained open. In this paper, we address the existence and construction of strict function-correcting codes for linear codes through three main contributions. First, using the $\alpha$-distance graph framework from our prior work, we establish a graph-theoretic existence condition under which a code can serve as a strict function-correcting code. For linear codes, we prove this distance graph is isomorphic to a Cayley graph, which implies the connected components are cosets of the subcode generated by low-weight codewords. This transforms the existence problem into a subcode generation problem. Second, a classical result of Simonis shows any linear code can be transformed into one with the same parameters whose basis consists entirely of minimum-weight codewords. We develop a converse construction: under certain conditions on the weight distribution, a linear code can be transformed into a new code with the same parameters but fewer independent minimum-weight codewords, thereby producing codes suitable for use as strict function-correcting codes. As a source of codes satisfying these conditions, we introduce chain codes, an infinite family of linear codes generated by their minimum-weight codewords. Third, we present an independent construction of strict function-correcting codes from narrow-sense BCH codes with designed distance three, by proving the minimum-weight codewords of such codes are contained in a proper subcode.

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arXiv2026

Non-Existence of Some Function-Correcting Codes With Data Protection

In this paper, we consider the recently introduced concept of \emph{function-correcting codes (FCCs) with data protection}, which provide a certain level of error protection for the data and a higher level of protection for a desired function on the data. These codes are denoted by $(f\!:\!d_d,d_f)$-FCC, where $d_d$ is the minimum distance of the code and $d_f$ denotes the minimum distance between those codewords that correspond to different function values of a function $f:\mathbb{F}_q^k \to \mathrm{Im}(f)$, with $d_f \geq d_d$. We use a distance graph on a code based on the pairwise distances of its codewords, and show conditions under which a code cannot work as a \emph{strict} $(f\!:\!d_d,d_f)$-FCC, that is, code for which $d_f > d_d$. We then consider some well-known classes of codes, such as perfect codes and maximum distance separable (MDS) codes, and show that they cannot be used as \emph{strict} $(f\!:\!d_d,d_f)$-FCCs.

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arXiv2026

Function-Correcting Partition Codes

We introduce function-correcting partition codes (FCPCs), which are a natural generalization of function-correcting codes (FCCs). An FCPC is defined directly on a partition of the message space, rather than on a specific target function. We show that any FCC for a function $f$ is exactly an FCPC with respect to the domain partition induced by $f$, which makes these codes a natural generalization of FCCs. We use the join of domain partitions to construct a single code that protects multiple functions simultaneously. We define the notions of partition gains to measure the bandwidth saved by using a single FCPC for multiple functions instead of constructing separate FCCs for each function. We derive general lower and upper bounds on the redundancy of such FCPCs and illustrate the achievable gains through examples. We specialize this concept of using single code for protecting multiple functions to linear functions via coset partition of the intersection of their kernels. We also present explicit FCPC constructions for locally bounded partitions and grouped weight partitions. Then, we associate a partition graph with any given partition of $\mathbb{F}_q^k$, and show that the existence of a suitable clique in this graph yields a set of representative information vectors that achieves the optimal redundancy. Using the existence of a full-size clique in the weight partition and support partition, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the optimal redundancy of FCPCs for these partitions. We introduce the notion of a block-preserving contraction for a partition, which helps reduce the problem size of finding optimal redundancy for an FCPC. We further show that such a contraction exists for all weight-based partitions. Finally, we observe that FCPCs naturally provide a form of partial privacy in the sense that only the domain partition of the function needs to be revealed to the transmitter.

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arXiv2025

Function-Correcting Codes With Data Protection

Function-correcting codes (FCCs) are designed to provide error protection for the value of a function computed on the data. Existing work typically focuses solely on protecting the function value and not the underlying data. In this work, we propose a general framework that offers protection for both the data and the function values. Since protecting the data inherently contributes to protecting the function value, we focus on scenarios where the function value requires stronger protection than the data itself. We first introduce a more general approach and a framework for function-correcting codes that incorporates data protection along with protection of function values. A two-step construction procedure for such codes is proposed, and bounds on the optimal redundancy of general FCCs with data protection are reported. Using these results, we exhibit examples that show that data protection can be added to existing FCCs without increasing redundancy. Using our two-step construction procedure, we present explicit constructions of FCCs with data protection for specific families of functions, such as locally bounded functions and the Hamming weight function. We associate a graph called minimum-distance graph to a code and use it to show that perfect codes and maximum distance separable (MDS) codes cannot provide additional protection to function values over and above the amount of protection for data for any function. Then we focus on linear FCCs and provide some results for linear functions, leveraging their inherent structural properties. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance of FCCs with a linear structure. Finally, we generalize the Plotkin and Hamming bounds well known in classical error-correcting coding theory to FCCs with data protection.

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arXiv2025

Perfectly-Private Analog Secure Aggregation in Federated Learning

In federated learning, multiple parties train models locally and share their parameters with a central server, which aggregates them to update a global model. To address the risk of exposing sensitive data through local models, secure aggregation via secure multiparty computation has been proposed to enhance privacy. At the same time, perfect privacy can only be achieved by a uniform distribution of the masked local models to be aggregated. This raises a problem when working with real valued data, as there is no measure on the reals that is invariant under the masking operation, and hence information leakage is bound to occur. Shifting the data to a finite field circumvents this problem, but as a downside runs into an inherent accuracy complexity tradeoff issue due to fixed point modular arithmetic as opposed to floating point numbers that can simultaneously handle numbers of varying magnitudes. In this paper, a novel secure parameter aggregation method is proposed that employs the torus rather than a finite field. This approach guarantees perfect privacy for each party's data by utilizing the uniform distribution on the torus, while avoiding accuracy losses. Experimental results show that the new protocol performs similarly to the model without secure aggregation while maintaining perfect privacy. Compared to the finite field secure aggregation, the torus-based protocol can in some cases significantly outperform it in terms of model accuracy and cosine similarity, hence making it a safer choice.

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arXiv2025

Secretive Hotplug Coded Caching

In this work, we consider a coded caching model called \textit{hotplug coded caching}, in which some users are offline during the delivery phase. The concept of Hotplug Placement Delivery Arrays (HpPDAs) for hotplug coded caching systems has been introduced in the literature, and two classes of HpPDAs are known. In this paper, we consider a secrecy constraint in hotplug coded caching setup, where users should not learn anything about any file from their cache content, and active users should not gain any information about files other than their demanded file from either their cache content or the server transmissions. We propose two secretive schemes for the two classes of HpPDAs and compare them with a baseline scheme, which is a secretive scheme using PDAs for the classical coded caching setup and can be trivially adapted for the hotplug coded caching setup. We numerically show that our schemes outperform the baseline scheme in certain memory regions.

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arXiv2025

Function-Correcting Codes for Locally Bounded Functions

In this paper, we introduce a class of functions that assume only a limited number $\lambda$ of values within a given Hamming $\rho$-ball and call them locally $(\rho, \lambda)$-bounded functions. We develop function-correcting codes (FCCs) for a subclass of these functions and propose an upper bound on the redundancy of FCCs. The bound is based on the minimum length of an error-correcting code with a given number of codewords and a minimum distance. Furthermore, we provide a sufficient optimality condition for FCCs when $\lambda = 4$. We also demonstrate that any function can be represented as a locally $(\rho, \lambda)$-bounded function, illustrating this with a representation of Hamming weight distribution functions. Furthermore, we present another construction of function-correcting codes for Hamming weight distribution functions.

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arXiv2025

Hierarchical Coded Caching in High Memory Regime with Coded Placement

We consider a two-layer hierarchical coded caching network where a server with a library of $N$ files is connected to $K_1$ mirrors, each having a cache memory of size $M_1$. Each mirror is further connected to $K_2$ users, each equipped with a dedicated cache of size $M_2$. In this paper, we propose two distinct coded caching schemes based on coded placement, corresponding to two distinct memory pairs, $ (M_1, M_2) $. We show that the proposed schemes outperform the existing schemes at these memory points given by the proposed schemes for smaller values of $K_2$. In setups where mirrors are positioned near each other, avoiding signal interference is crucial. This can be ensured by having all mirrors transmit using orthogonal carrier frequencies. To compare our schemes with existing ones, we used the composite rate metric, which accurately represents the total bandwidth utilized in such setups. The composite rate is given by $\overline{R} = R_1 + K_1 R_2$, where $R_1$ is the rate from the server to the mirrors, and $R_2$ is the rate from the mirrors to the users, with respect to $M_1$ and $M_2$.

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arXiv2024

A New Hotplug Coded Caching Scheme Using PDAs

In the original coded caching model introduced by Maddah-Ali and Niesen in 2014, the server starts broadcasting only after it receives demands from all the users. So, all the users must be active during the delivery phase. In this work, we consider a coded caching model called hotplug coded caching in which some of the users are offline during the delivery phase. This model was first introduced by Ma and Tuninetti (``On Coded Caching Systems with Offline Users," 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory). The concept of Hotplug Placement Delivery Arrays (HpPDAs) for the hotplug coded caching systems was introduced in (``Improved Hotplug Caching Schemes Using PDAs and $t$-Designs," \emph{arXiv:2311.02856}, 2024), in which the authors have constructed HpPDAs from $t$-designs. This work provides a new hotplug coded caching scheme from the existing HpPDAs. The performance comparison of the proposed scheme with the existing schemes is presented. When applied for HpPDAs from $t$-designs, our scheme outperforms the baseline scheme by Ma and Tuninetti, and the Improved $t$-scheme by Rajput and Rajan in some memory regimes.

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arXiv2024

Single-Server Pliable Private Information Retrieval with Identifiable Side Information

In Pliable Private Information Retrieval (PPIR) with a single server, messages are partitioned into $\Gamma$ non-overlapping classes. The user wants to retrieve a message from its desired class without revealing the identity of the desired class to the server. In S. A. Obead, H. Y. Lin and E. Rosnes, Single-Server Pliable Private Information Retrieval With Side Information, arXiv:2305.06857, authors consider the problem of PPIR with Side Information (PPIR-SI), where the user now has side information. The user wants to retrieve any new message (not included in the side information) from its desired class without revealing the identity of the desired class and its side information. A scheme for the PPIR-SI is given by Obead et al. for the case when the users side information is unidentified, and this case is referred to as PPIR with Unidentifiable SI (PPIR-USI). In this paper, we study the problem of PPIR for the single server case when the side information is partially identifiable, and we term this case as PPIR with Identifiable Side Information (PPIR-ISI). The user is well aware of the identity of the side information belonging to $\eta$ number of classes, where $1\leq \eta \leq \Gamma$. In this problem, The user wants to retrieve a message from its desired class without revealing the identity of the desired class to the server. We give a scheme for PPIR-ISI, and we prove that having identifiable side information is advantageous by comparing the rate of the proposed scheme to the rate of the PPIR-USI scheme given by Obead et al. for some cases. Further, we extend the problem of PPIR-ISI for multi-user case, where users can collaborately generate the query sets, and we give a scheme for this problem.

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arXiv2023

Coded Caching for Hierarchical Two-Layer Networks with Coded Placement

We examine a two-layered hierarchical coded caching problem, a configuration addressed in existing research. This involves a server connected to $K_1$ mirrors, each of which serves $K_2$ users. The mirrors and the users are equipped with caches of size $M_1$ and $M_2$, respectively. We propose a hierarchical coded caching scheme with coded placements that outperforms existing schemes. To ensure a fair comparison, we introduce the notion of composite rate, defined as $\overline{R} = R_1 + K_1 R_2$, where $R_1$ is the rate from the server to mirrors and $R_2$ is the rate from mirrors to users. The composite rate has not been discussed before in the literature and is pertinent when mirrors transmit with different carrier frequencies. For the proposed scheme, we show a trade-off between the global memory $\overline{M}=K_1M_1+K_1K_2M_2$ of the system and the composite rate and compare with the existing schemes. Additionally, we conduct this comparative analysis by plotting $R_1$ + $R_2$ against global memory, which is particularly beneficial for systems wherein each mirror can utilize the same carrier frequency, given their significant spatial separation. Additionally, we propose an optimized scheme for the specific case of a single mirror, showing improved performance in this scenario.

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arXiv2023

Improved Hotplug Caching Schemes Using PDAs and t-Designs

We consider a coded caching system in which some users are offline at the time of delivery. Such systems are called hotplug coded caching systems. A placement delivery array (PDA) is a well-known tool for constructing a coded caching scheme for dedicated caches. In this paper, we introduce the concept of PDAs for hotplug coded caching schemes and refer to it as a hotplug placement delivery array (HpPDA). We give an algorithm to describe the placement and the delivery phase of a hotplug coded caching scheme using HpPDA. We show that an existing hotplug coded caching scheme given by Y. Ma and D. Tuninetti in 2022 corresponds to a class of HpPDAs and then propose a method to further improve the rate of that scheme. Additionally, we construct a class of HpPDAs using $t$-designs, which corresponds to a scheme for hotplug coded caching systems. We further improve the rate of this scheme and prove that the cut-set bound is achieved in some higher memory range for a hotplug coded caching system with three active users.

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arXiv2023

Average Probability of Error for Single Uniprior Index Coding over Rayleigh Fading Channel

Ong and Ho developed optimal linear index codes for single uniprior index coding problems (ICPs) by finding a spanning tree for each of the strongly connected components of the corresponding information-flow graphs, following which Thomas et al. considered the same class of ICPs over Rayleigh fading channel. They developed the min-max probability of error criterion for choosing an index code which minimized the probability of error at the receivers and showed that there always exist optimal linear index codes for which any receiver takes at most two transmissions to decode a requested message. Motivated by the above works, this paper considers single uniprior ICPs over Rayleigh fading channels for which minimizing average probability of error is shown to be a criterion for further selection of index codes. The optimal index code w.r.t this criterion is shown to be one that minimizes the total number of transmissions used for decoding the message requests at all the receivers. An algorithm that generates a spanning tree which has a lower value of this metric as compared to the optimal star graph is also presented. For a given set of parameters of single uniprior ICPs, a lower bound for the total number of transmissions used by any optimal index code is derived, and a class of ICPs for which this bound is tight is identified.

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arXiv2023

On Cache-Aided Multi-User Private Information Retrieval with Small Caches

In this paper, we propose a scheme for the problem of cache-aided multi-user private information retrieval with small caches, in which $K$ users are connected to $S$ non-colluding databases via shared links. Each database contains a set of $N$ files, and each user has a dedicated cache of size equivalent to the size of $M$ files. All the users want to retrieve a file without revealing their demands to the databases. During off-peak hours, all the users will fill their caches, and when required, users will demand their desired files by cooperatively generating query sets for each database. After receiving the transmissions from databases, all the users should get their desired files using transmitted data and their cache contents. This problem has been studied in [X. Zhang, K. Wan, H. Sun, M. Ji and G. Caire, \tqt{Fundamental limits of cache-aided multiuser private information retrieval}, IEEE Trans. Commun., 2021], in which authors proposed a product design scheme. In this paper, we propose a scheme that gives a better rate for a particular value of $M$ than the product design scheme. We consider a slightly different approach for the placement phase. Instead of a database filling the caches of all users directly, a database will broadcast cache content for all users on a shared link, and then the users will decide unitedly which part of the broadcasted content will be stored in the cache of each user. This variation facilitates maintaining the privacy constraint at a reduced rate.

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arXiv2020

On cyclic LRC codes that are also LCD codes

Locally recoverable (LRC) codes provide a solution to single node failure in distributed storage systems, where it is a very common problem. On the other hand, linear complementary dual (LCD) codes are useful in fault injections attacks on storage systems. In this paper, we establish a connection between LRC codes and LCD codes. We derive some conditions on the construction of cyclic LRC codes so that they are also LCD codes. A lower bound on the minimum distance of such codes is determined. Some examples have been given to explain the construction.

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