On-the-fly error correction with embedded digital controller

Abstract

An on-the-fly error correction method and apparatus for correcting a data block within a stream of substantially contiguous data blocks during a data decoding process, each block having a Reed-Solomon error syndrome calculated and appended during an encoding process. The method comprises the steps of: passing the block through a syndrome remainder recovery circuit to obtain a remainder related to the error syndrome, comparing the remainder with zero to determine if an error burst is present, and if an error burst is present: latching the remainder into a remainder latch in order to free the syndrome information recovery circuit for the next data block of the stream, causing a multitasked microcontroller to call and execute an error correction service routine and thereupon selectively transferring the remainder from the remainder latch to the microcontroller, determining with the microcontroller the location and a corrected value for the error burst in accordance with a Reed Solomon error correction algorithm, and substituting the corrected value for the error burst within the block detected to contain the error burst before it is delivered to a host system. Cross checking the correction, and error detection of data block ID fields is also disclosed.