TIME-DOMAIN ALGORITHMS AND ARCHITECTURES FOR REED-SOLOMON DECODING

Reed-Solomon decoders can be designed using time or frequency domain algorithms. The main advantage of the time domain method is its regular computational structure, an attractive feature for a flexible VLSI implementation. The main disadvantage of this is the relatively high computation count, hence it is important to find means of reducing the computational complexity of the time domain method. Several modifications to the time domain Reed-Solomon decoding algorithm are described for reducing its computational complexity by about 60%, as well as regular VLSI architectures for implementing the time domain algorithm. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the time domain decoding technique.