Reed-Solomon decoder IP core

The Reed-Solomon decoder IP core is a highly versatile core generator for creating hardware Reed-Solomon decoder circuits suitable for high speed decoding of the ubiquitous Reed-Solomon Forward Error Correction (FEC) code. This code is used in a wide variety of data storage and transmission applications, such as the Compact Disc, DVD, various kinds of magnetic storage, digital subscriber lines and satellite communications.

The core generator is a Java application generating highly comprehensible, standard, device- and technology-independent VHDL code ready for consumption by industrial FPGA synthesis tools or ASIC processes, while also being suitable for educational use. Generated cores meet the requirements of various standards that specify Reed-Solomon codes, including ATSC, CCSDS, DVB, IESS-308 and Intelsat channel coding modes.

Features

High speed, fully synchronous Reed-Solomon decoder using a single clock
Implements any decoder specified via code parameters or chosen presets
Supports continuous input data with no gaps between blocks
One symbol in and out per clock cycle at any configuration
Symbol size ranges from 3 to 12 bits; any primitive field polynomial usable for a given symbol size
Supports shortened codes and erasure decoding
Indicates errors, counts number of errors corrected and flags failures
Support for marker bits useful for tagging input data, output in sync with output data
User configurable generation of optional parts: VHDL for unused features is not generated, thus conserving resources
Support for generating VHDL testbench matching the actual configuration, exercising all core features, as well as test input and reference output data

Publications

The following freely downloadable publications are available for this product.

	Document	Size
	Product datasheet	150 kB
	Table of field polynomials	45 kB
	Licensing information	48 kB

Availability

The Reed-Solomon decoder IP core is available for licensing. Please see the Licensing information document and get in touch if you are interested.