cyclic redundancy check (CRC)

An error-checking technique that helps ensure accurate transmission of digital data in a network.

An error-detection scheme that (a) uses parity bits generated by polynomial encoding of digital signals, (b) appends those parity bits to the digital signal, and (c) uses decoding algorithms that detect errors in the received digital signal. Note: Error correction, if required, may be accomplished through the use of an automatic repeat-request (ARQ) system. 2. [An] error checking mechanism that checks data integrity by computing a polynomial algorithm based checksum. [INFOSEC-99]