What is the purpose of Forward Error Correction (FEC) in communications?

Forward Error Correction (FEC) plays a crucial role in communications by enabling the detection and correction of errors in transmitted data without the need for retransmission. This capability enhances the reliability of data communication, particularly in environments where retransmission may be difficult or impossible, such as satellite communications or broadcasting scenarios where latency is a concern.

In FEC, the sender encodes the original data with redundant information before transmission. This redundancy allows the receiver to identify and correct certain types of errors that may occur during the transmission process due to factors like noise or interference. By correcting errors on the fly, FEC helps maintain the integrity of the data while minimizing delays associated with requiring the sender to resend lost or corrupted data.

Other functions such as encryption, data compression, or conversion between signal types serve different purposes in communications but do not involve the proactive correction of errors during data transmission like FEC does.