A low-latency decoder for punctured/shortened Reed-Solomon codes

Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are practically the most frequently used error correction codes with applications ranging from the compact disc, communications, to the exploration of the solar system. In communication systems, RS codes are often punctured and/or shortened to provide different levels of error-correction capability for different services. Previously, standard RS decoding algorithms are also used to decode the shortened/punctured codes, and that results in a undue decoding latency. In this paper, a low-latency decoder is proposed for the punctured/shortened RS codes. The decoding latency matches up to that with the shortened code length rather than the original code length. Therefore, the saving in decoding latency can be significant, if the code length of the shortened/punctured codes is much smaller than the original one. As an example, the proposed decoder is designed for the IEEE 802.16a WiMAX system, where six shortened/punctured RS codes are specified. Numerical results of decoding latency are also provided in this work