Lower bounds on covering codes via partition matrices

Let Kq(n,R) denote the minimal cardinality of a q-ary code of length n and covering radius R. Let σq(n,s;r) denote the minimal cardinality of a q-ary code of length n, which is s-surjective with radius r. In order to lower-bound Kq(n,n−2) and σq(n,s;s−2) we introduce partition matrices and their transversals. Our approach leads to a short new proof of a classical bound of Rodemich on Kq(n,n−2) and to the new bound Kq(n,n−2)⩾3q−2n+2, improving the first iff 5⩽n