Methods and apparatus for computing a probability value of a received value in communication or storage systems

A probability computation system for computing a probability value for at least one received value in one or more of a communication system and a memory device, wherein said probability computation system comprises:

• means for identifying a segment of a function corresponding to said received value, wherein said function is defined over a plurality of segments, wherein each of said segments has an associated set of parameters;
• and
• means for calculating said probability value using said set of parameters associated with said identified segment, wherein one or more of said means for identifying and said means for calculating comprise at least one hardware device.

A method for computing a probability value for a received value in one or more of a communication system and a memory device, comprising:

• calculating said probability value for said received value using a first distribution, wherein said first distribution is predefined and wherein a mapped version of said first distribution approximates a distribution of said received values and wherein said calculating step is implemented by one or more of a processor, a controller, a read channel, a signal processing unit and a decoder.