An improved systolic extended Euclidean algorithm for Reed-Solomon decoding: design and implementation

The extended Euclidean algorithm (XEA) is the basis of one of the methods used for solving the key equation which arises in decoding Reed-Solomon error correcting codes. The algorithm is implemented using an Advanced Micro Devices electrically programmable gate array (EPGA) development system. This PC based software uses ORCAD schematic entry and simulation in conjunction with an AMD interface. EPGAs were chosen for the circuit design because of the ease of obtaining a silicon prototype once the circuit has been verified. The facility for direct programming of the IC from the PC means circuit revisions in hardware are quickly realized; this, coupled with efficient entry and simulation package, gives a much speedier design cycle than conventional masked silicon approaches. The advantages of the algorithm over existing designs are noted