Method and apparatus for umbrella coding

1. A communication system, comprising:

an encoder configured to encode source data and output, based on an encoding option, either: a) an encoded frame comprising a mother code having a first number of coded data symbols, or b) a plurality of concatenated daughter codes having a second number of coded data symbols; wherein:

the first number of coded data symbols and the second number of coded data symbols are equal;

the mother code comprises a first source number of source symbols and a first parity number of parity symbols; and

the daughter code comprises fewer source symbols and fewer parity symbols than the mother code.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein:

the daughter code comprises a second source number of source symbols and a second parity number of parity symbols; and

a ratio between the first source number and the second source number equals a ratio between the first parity number and the second parity number.

3. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the encoder comprises a forward error correction circuit configured to encode the source data.

4. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the encoder comprises a syndrome computation unit configured to generate a first syndrome number of syndromes based on the first source number of source symbols and generate a second syndrome number of syndromes based on the second source number of source symbols.

5. The communication system of claim 4 , wherein the encoder is further configured to generate the first parity number of parity symbols by interpolating the first syndrome number of syndromes and generate the second parity number of parity symbols by interpolating the second syndrome number of syndromes.

6. The communication system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a controller configured to determine the encoding option based on system performance parameters.

7. The communication system of claim 6 , wherein the system performance parameters comprise:

latency requirement, signal to noise ratio, power consumption threshold, or any combination thereof.

8. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the daughter code and the mother code are both encoded within an integer number of clock cycles.

9. A communication system, comprising:

a decoder configured to receive an encoded frame comprising either: a) a mother code having a first number of coded data symbols or b) a plurality of serial concatenated daughter codes having a second number of coded data symbols, and output a block of decoded data; wherein:

the first number of coded data symbols and the second number of coded data symbols are equal; and

the decoder is configured to consume fewer computational resources when decoding the daughter code than when decoding the mother code.

10. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein:

the mother code comprises a first source number of source symbols and a first parity number of parity symbols;

the daughter code comprises a second source number of source symbols and a second parity number of parity symbols; and

a ratio between the first source number and the second source number equals a ratio between the first parity number and the second parity number.

11. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein:

the decoder comprises a syndrome computation unit configured to generate a first syndrome number of syndromes based on the received mother code and generate a second syndrome number of syndromes based on the received daughter code;

a ratio between the first syndrome number and the second syndrome number is an integer; and

the first syndrome number and a summation of all the second syndrome numbers for daughter codes are equal.

12. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein:

a maximum difference of error correction capacity between any two daughter codes is less than equal to one.

13. The communication system of claim 9 , wherein the decoder further comprises a key equation solver comprising a plurality of processing units and configured to implement Reformulated inversionless Berlekamp-Massey algorithm.

14. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the key equation solver uses fewer processing units when decoding the daughter code than when decoding the mother code.

15. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the key equation solver finishes solving equations within fewer clock cycles when decoding the daughter code than when decoding the mother code.

16. The communication system of claim 15 , wherein the daughter code is decoded within an integer number of clock cycles.

17. A communication method, comprising:

receiving, during a specific receiving operation in an encoder, either: a) daughter blocks of source data, or b) a mother block of source data;

encoding, in a specific encoding operation by the encoder, either: a) the daughter blocks of source data to daughter codes, or b) the mother block of source data to a mother code;

for encoding the daughter blocks:

concatenating the daughter codes into a first type of

encoded frame; and

transmitting the first type of encoded frame to a decoder, wherein:

the mother code comprises a first source number of source symbols and a first parity number of parity symbols; and

each of the daughter code comprises fewer source symbols and fewer parity symbols than the mother code.

18. The communication method of claim 17 , further comprising:

transmitting a second type of encoded frame comprising the mother code to the decoder, wherein:

the mother code and the concatenated daughter codes comprise and equal number of coded data symbols.

19. The communication method of claim 18 , wherein:

the daughter code comprises a second source number of source symbols and a second parity number of parity symbols;

a ratio between the first source number and the second source number equals a ratio between the first parity number and the second parity number;

the daughter code is encoded by the encoder within a first integer number of clock cycles;

the daughter code is configured to be decoded by the decoder within a second integer number of clock cycles; and

the encoder uses a bus width for input data and a bus width for output data that are equal, in multiple different encoding modes.

20. The communication method of claim 18 , further comprising:

when the first type of encoded frame is received at the decoder, computing, in the decoder, a first number of syndromes based on the first type of encoded frame; and

when the second type of encoded frame is received at the decoder, computing, in the decoder, a second number of syndromes based on the second type of encoded frame.