Method and device for performing error correction on ECC data sectors

A device for detecting and correcting errors in error correction coded (ECC) data sectors, the ECC data sectors being sequentially received as a data stream from a data storage medium, the device comprising:

• a buffer for sequentially receiving and storing the ECC data sectors from the data storage medium;
• an error detection and correction (EDAC) circuitry arranged to sequentially receive the ECC data sectors for sequentially generating a plurality of syndrome sets for the ECC data sectors to detect errors in the ECC data sector, one syndrome set per ECC data sector, each syndrome set including a plurality of syndromes the plurality of syndromes including non-zero syndromes indicating errors, the EDAC circuitry sequentially storing the syndrome sets into the buffer while accessing the stored syndrome sets sequentially to decode errors in the associated ECC data sectors without interrupting the receipt of the next ECC data sector;
• and
• a sector counter configured to indicate whether the buffer contains syndromes, the sector counter configured to be decremented after a read operation and incremented after a write operation.

A method for detecting and correcting errors in error correction coded (ECC) data sectors, the ECC data sectors being sequentially received as a data stream from a data storage medium, the method comprising:

• sequentially receiving and storing the ECC data sectors from the data storage medium;
• while receiving the ECC data sectors, sequentially generating a plurality of syndrome sets for the ECC data sectors to detect errors in the ECC data sector, one syndrome set per ECC data sector, each syndrome set including a plurality of syndromes, the plurality of syndromes including non-zero syndromes indicating errors;
• sequentially storing the syndrome sets;
• and
• accessing the stored syndrome sets sequentially to decode errors in the associated ECC data sectors, without interrupting the receipt of the next ECC data sector, the accessing the set of syndromes and the erasure information further including:
• determining if a sector counter is equal to zero;
• if the sector counter is equal to zero, reading the set of syndromes and erasure information;
• and
• using the set of syndromes and the erasure information to decode the errors for the past ECC data sector.