A low-complexity Reed-Solomon (RS) decoder design based on the modified Euclidean (ME) algorithm proposed by Truong is presented in this paper. Low complexity is achieved by reformulating Truong's ME algorithm using the proposed polynomial manipulation scheme so that a more compact polynomial representation can be derived. Together with the developed folding scheme and simplified boundary cell, the resulting design effectively reduces the hardware complexity while meeting the throughput requirements of optical communication systems. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed RS(255, 239) decoder, implemented in the TSMC 0.18 µm process, can operate at up to 425 MHz and achieve a throughput rate of 3.4 Gbps with a total gate count of 11,759. Compared to related works, the proposed decoder has the lowest area requirement and the smallest area-time complexity.

This paper presents a high-speed, low-complexity VLSI architecture based on the modified Euclidean (ME) algorithm for Reed-Solomon decoders. The low-complexity feature of the proposed architecture is obtained by reformulating the error locator and error evaluator polynomials to remove redundant information in the ME algorithm proposed by Truong. This increases the hardware utilization of the processing elements used to solve the key equation and reduces hardware by 30.4%. The proposed architecture retains the high-speed feature of Truong's ME algorithm with a reduced latency, achieved by changing the initial settings of the design. Analytical results show that the proposed architecture has the smallest critical path delay, latency, and area-time complexity in comparison with similar studies. An example RS(255,239) decoder design, implemented using the TSMC 0.18 µm process, can reach a throughput rate of 3 Gbps at an operating frequency of 375 MHz and with a total gate count of 27,271.