Reed-Solomon codes for correcting phased error bursts

A code structure is introduced that represents a Reed-Solomon (RS) code in two-dimensional format. Based on this structure, a novel approach to multiple error burst correction using RS codes is proposed. For a model of phased error bursts, where each burst can affect one of the columns in a two-dimensional transmitted word, it is shown that the bursts can be corrected using a known multisequence shift-register synthesis algorithm. It is further shown that the resulting codes posses nearly optimal burst correction capability, under certain probability of decoding failure. Finally, low-complexity systematic encoding and syndrome computation algorithms for these codes are discussed. The proposed scheme may also find use in decoding of different coding schemes based on RS codes, such as product or concatenated codes.