FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION DECODERS

摘要

An erasure information table includes one element for each column of a data frame, stored in an IP datagram buffer 66 and in an RS data buffer 67, instead of an element for each element of that column. Thus, CRC checking is performed against datagrams, instead of individual elements, of a received data frame, and effective error correction can be carried out by a Reed Solomon decoder 69. The effectiveness of the error correction is decreased since errors will be indicated as being present when actually an error is present in another row. The amount of memory needed to store the erasure information though is reduced. In another embodiment (Figures 9 and 10), a linked list includes an element for each series of datagrams which have the same error status (i.e. reliable or unreliable). Each element includes the start address of the first datagram in that sequence and indicates the error status. Different lists may be used for application data and for parity data.