Unintentional errors occur in all data transmission channels. The standard way to deal with them is to use noise-resistant codecs based on the use of algebraic error correction codes. There are transmission channels in which a special type of error occurs – erasures, i.e. a type of error in which the location of the error is known, but its value is not known. Coding theory claims that error-control methods can be applied to protect data from erasure, however, these statements are not accompanied by details. This work fills this gap. Algorithms for correcting erasures using arbitrary decoders for error correcting codes are constructed. Lemmas about the correctness of the constructed algorithms are formulated, some estimates of the probability of successful decoding are obtained.

Keywords: channels with erasures, noise-resistant code, algebraic code, error correction code decoder, erasure correction algorithm