On the Automorphism Groups of some AG-Codes Based on Ca;b Curves

*Partially supported by NATO.

We study Ca,b curves and their applications to coding theory. Recently, Joyner and Ksir have suggested a decoding algorithm based on the automorphisms of the code. We show how Ca;b curves can be used to construct MDS codes and focus on some Ca;b curves with extra automorphisms, namely y^3 = x^4 + 1, y^3 = x^4 - x, y^3 - y = x^4. The automorphism groups of such codes are determined in most characteristics.