e binary erasure channel (BEC) is perhaps the simplest non-trivial channelmodel

imaginable. It was introduced by Elias as a toy example in #$ &. e emergence of

the internet promoted the erasure channel into the class of “real world” channels.

Indeed, erasure channels can be used to model data networks, where packets either

arrive correctly or are lost due to bu er over(ows or excessive delays. (It is somewhat

unrealistic, however, to assume that packet losses are independent.)