Interpolation-based hard-decision Reed-Solomon decoders

Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are among the most widely used error-correcting codes in digital communication and storage systems. Currently, the RS decoders employed in practical systems are hard-decision decoders based on either the Berlekamp-Massey or modified Euclidean algorithm due to the existence of high-speed and low-complexity hardware implementations. Inspired by algebraic soft-decision RS decoder designs, we propose to adopt interpolation-based algorithms for hard-decision RS decoding. Efficient architectures for the proposed decoders are also presented. To achieve the same throughput, the decoder using the Ko¿tter´s interpolation requires 16% more area than traditional hard-decision decoders. It can be an alternative for hard-decision RS decoder in low-cost systems.