It gives the data either an odd or even parity, which is used to validate the integrity of the data.

For example, every 7 bits of data may include a parity bit (for a total of 8 bits, or one byte ).

If the data transmission protocol is set to an odd parity, each data packet must have an odd parity.

If a packet is received with the wrong parity, an error will be produced and the data will need to be retransmitted.

Below are examples of how a parity bit would be computed using both odd and even parity settings.

The value of the parity bit depends on the initial parity of the data.

Therefore, a 0 would be added to keep the parity odd and a 1 would be added to give the value an even parity.

Therefore, if the value 1010 is transmitted and 1001 is received, no error will be detected.

This means parity checks are not 100 reliable when validating data.

Still, it is unlikely that more than one bit will be incorrect in a small packet of data.

Therefore, parity checks are most reliable when using small packet sizes.

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What Is Even Parity