On the binary weight distribution of some Reed-Solomon codes

Consider an (n,k) linear code with symbols from GF(2 sup M). If each code symbol is represented by a m-tuple over GF(2) using certain basis for GF(2 sup M), a binary (nm,km) linear code is obtained. The weight distribution of a binary linear code obtained in this manner is investigated. Weight enumerators for binary linear codes obtained from Reed-Solomon codes over GF(2 sup M) generated by polynomials, (X-alpha), (X-l)(X-alpha), (X-alpha)(X-alpha squared) and (X-l)(X-alpha)(X-alpha squared) and their extended codes are presented, where alpha is a primitive element of GF(2 sup M). Binary codes derived from Reed-Solomon codes are often used for correcting multiple bursts of errors.