New List Decoding Algorithms for Reed-Solomon and BCH Codes

Abstract: In this paper we devise a rational curve fitting algorithm and apply it to the list decoding of Reed-Solomon and BCH codes. The proposed list decoding algorithms exhibit the following significant properties. 1 The algorithm corrects up to $n(1-\sqrt{1-D})$ errors for a (generalized) $(n, k, d=n-k+1)$ Reed-Solomon code, which matches the Johnson bound, where $D\eqdef \frac{d}{n}$ denotes the normalized minimum distance. In comparison with the Guruswami-Sudan algorithm, which exhibits the same list correction capability, the former requires multiplicity, which dictates the algorithmic complexity, $O(n(1-\sqrt{1-D}))$, whereas the latter requires multiplicity $O(n^2(1-D))$. With the up-to-date most efficient implementation, the former has complexity $O(n^{6}(1-\sqrt{1-D})^{7/2})$, whereas the latter has complexity $O(n^{10}(1-D)^4)$. 2. With the multiplicity set to one, the derivative list correction capability precisely sits in between the conventional hard-decision decoding and the optimal list decoding. Moreover, the number of candidate codewords is upper bounded by a constant for a fixed code rate and thus, the derivative algorithm exhibits quadratic complexity $O(n^2)$. 3. By utilizing the unique properties of the Berlekamp algorithm, the algorithm corrects up to $\frac{n}{2}(1-\sqrt{1-2D})$ errors for a narrow-sense $(n, k, d)$ binary BCH code, which matches the Johnson bound for binary codes. The algorithmic complexity is $O(n^{6}(1-\sqrt{1-2D})^7)$.