>> it is difficult to find clear expositions on things like digital error correction, an inherently complicated business.
I think thats the problem a lot of people may have - Ive seen several requests for things to be put in "simple terms" and many discussions on how adsl error correction works, but there doesnt seem to be anything that describes it without going way too deep in the subject.
For my dissertation I did data compression so I had a bit of a head start on the data handling methods from a programming perspective and it came in handy that the text book I shelled out £40 at the time for also covered some of the error correction algorithms. Once I'd found out which algorithms were used (thanks to my broadcom router) - I was then able to backtrack and piece some info together.
The hard part is trying to convert reams of info and pick out the relevant bits and bring it down several levels and apply it to adsl. By bringing it down you sometimes loose some info that doesnt always make it quite technically 100% correct and you have to draw a line between going to deep and attempting to summarise the important bits.
>> As a retired, mostly analogue, electronics engineer
ahh then you could perhaps teach me a thing or two then in that area