ECC

ECC is an acronym used for several technologies in computing, most notably error-correcting codes and elliptic curve cryptography. The term also appears in contexts such as ECC memory, which uses error-correcting codes to improve data integrity in RAM, and in cryptographic systems that rely on elliptic curves.

Error-correcting codes add redundancy to data to detect and correct errors resulting from hardware faults or noisy channels. In memory, ECC typically employs SECDED—single-error correction, double-error detection—codes, often based on Hamming codes, to correct single-bit errors and detect double-bit errors. ECC is also used in storage controllers, RAID arrays, and communications protocols to improve reliability and data integrity.

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is a form of public-key cryptography based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. ECC achieves comparable security with substantially smaller key sizes than traditional schemes, enabling faster computation, smaller keys, and reduced bandwidth. Common constructs include ECDSA for digital signatures and ECDH for key exchange. Widely used curves include NIST P-256, Curve25519, and secp256k1.

Practical considerations: implementing ECC requires attention to constant-time arithmetic and side-channel resistance. In memory, ECC adds modest overhead for parity bits but yields higher reliability in critical systems. In cryptography, ECC requires trusted libraries and proper parameter choices to avoid weak configurations.