binary erasure channel

A binary erasure channel (or BEC) is a common communications channel model used in coding theory and information theory. In this model, a transmitter sends a bit (a zero or a one), and the receiver either receives the bit or it receives a message that the bit was not received ("erased"). This channel is used frequently in information theory because it is one of the simplest channels to analyze. The BEC was introduced by Peter Elias of MIT in 1954 as a toy example.