Erasure forecasting and error-correction strategies

A method comprising:

• forecasting a number of erasures in an input signal, wherein the input signal includes a number of codewords, and wherein the erasures include information about errors in the input signal due to a burst error;
• in response to the number of the erasures being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, using the information about the errors contained in the erasures to decode the codewords in the input signal;
• and
• in response to the number of the erasures being greater than the predetermined threshold,
• not using the information about the errors contained in the erasures to decode the codewords, and
• detecting the burst error, and decoding the codewords in the input signal based on having detected the burst error.

A computer program, tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising instructions for causing a processor to:

• forecast a number of erasures in an input signal, wherein the input signal includes a plurality of codewords, and wherein the erasures include information about errors in the input signal due to a burst error;
• in response to the number of the erasures being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, use the information about the errors contained in the erasures to decode the codewords in the input signal;
• and
• in response to the number of the erasures being greater than the predetermined threshold,
• not use the information about the errors contained in the erasures to decode the codewords, and
• detect the burst error, and decode the codewords in the input signal based on having detected the burst error.