# Synchronization Strings and Codes for Insertions and Deletions -- a Survey

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.00711 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00711/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 3 Jan 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Edit Distance Robust Watermarks via Indexing Pseudorandom Codes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02633/) (2024)
- [Disturbance-based Discretization, Differentiable IDS Channel, and an IDS-Correcting Code for DNA-based Storage](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.18929/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Already in the 1960s, Levenshtein and others studied error-correcting codes that protect against synchronization errors, such as symbol insertions and deletions. However, despite significant efforts, progress on designing such codes has been lagging until recently, particularly compared to the detailed understanding of error-correcting codes for symbol substitution or erasure errors. This paper surveys the recent progress in designing efficient error-correcting codes over finite alphabets that can correct a constant fraction of worst-case insertions and deletions. Most state-of-the-art results for such codes rely on synchronization strings, simple yet powerful pseudo-random objects that have proven to be very effective solutions for coping with synchronization errors in various settings. This survey also includes an overview of what is known about synchronization strings and discusses communication settings related to error-correcting codes in which synchronization strings have been applied.