On the Minimal Distance of Binary Self-Dual Cyclic Codes

In this paper, an explicit construction of binary self-dual cyclic codes of length n going to infinity with a minimal distance at least half the square root of n is presented. The same idea is also used to construct more general binary cyclic codes with a large minimal distance. Finally, in the special case of self-dual cyclic codes, a simplified version of a proof by Conway and Sloane is given, showing an upper bound for the distance of binary self-dual codes.