Error and erasure decoding apparatus and method

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a syndrome calculator configured to generate a plurality of partial syndromes of a codeword;

an erasure locator configured to generate an erasure locator polynomial for the codeword;

a syndrome modifier, coupled with the syndrome calculator and the erasure locator, configured to generate modified partial syndromes for the codeword based at least in part on the partial syndromes and the erasure locator polynomial for the codeword; and

an error locator, coupled with the syndrome modifier, configured to generate an error locator polynomial using no more than last (2t−B) partial syndromes of the modified partial syndromes, for error and erasure decoding of the codeword, wherein t is a number of correctable errors, and B is a number of erasures associated with the codeword.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the error locator is configured to use a Berlekamp-Massey algorithm to generate the error locator polynomial.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein B is greater than t.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a memory controller.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a microprocessor comprising:

a memory controller having the syndrome calculator, the erasure locator, the syndrome modifier, and the error locator; and

one or more processor cores coupled with the memory controller.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a computing device, comprising:

a system memory; and

a microprocessor, coupled with the system memory, having the syndrome calculator, the erasure locator, the syndrome modifier, and the error locator.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the computing device is a selected one of a laptop, a netbook, a notebook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant, an ultra-mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player, a digital video player, or a bar code reader.

8. One or more non-transient machine readable storage medium having a plurality of instructions configured to cause a memory controller, in response to execution of the plurality of instructions by the memory controller, to:

generate a plurality of partial syndromes for a codeword;

generate an erasure locator polynomial for the codeword;

generate modified partial syndromes based at least in part on the plurality of partial syndromes and the erasure locator polynomial of the codeword; and

generate an error locator polynomial using no more than last (2t−B) partial syndromes of the modified partial syndromes, for error and erasure decoding of the codeword, wherein t is a number of correctable errors, and B is a number of erasures associated with the codeword.

9. The one or more non-transient machine readable storage medium according to claim 8 ,

wherein the error locator polynomial is generated using a Berlekamp-Massey algorithm.

10. The one or more non-transient machine readable storage medium according to claim 8 , wherein B is greater than t.

11. A method, comprising:

generating, by a memory controller, a plurality of partial syndromes for a codeword;

generating, by the memory controller, an erasure locator polynomial for the codeword;

generating, by the memory controller, modified partial syndromes based at least in part on the plurality of partial syndromes and the erasure locator polynomial of the codeword; and

generating, by the memory controller, an error locator polynomial using no more than last (2t−B) partial syndromes of the modified partial syndromes, for error and erasure decoding of the codeword, wherein t is a number of correctable errors, and B is a number of erasures.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a Berlekamp-Massey algorithm is used in generating the error locator polynomial.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein B is greater than t.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

means for generating a plurality of partial syndromes for a codeword;

means for generating an erasure locator polynomial for the codeword;

means for generating modified partial syndromes for the codeword based at least in part on the plurality of partial syndromes and the erasure locator polynomial of the codeword; and

means for generating an error locator polynomial for the codeword using no more than last (2t−B) partial syndromes of the modified partial syndromes, for error and erasure decoding of the codeword, wherein t is a number of correctable errors, and B is a number of erasures associated with the codeword.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the means for generating an erasure locator polynomial comprises means for generating the erasure locator polynomial using a Berlekamp-Massey algorithm.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein B is greater than t.