Patent ID: 8589760

Claim:
A system for determining whether a portion of a storage device includes a defect, comprising: a processor configured to: read data from the portion of the storage device; correct the read data using a decoder; obtain reference data associated with the portion; compare the reference data and the read data to determine a number of error bits and a number of error symbols associated with the portion; compute an error ratio, wherein the error ratio comprises a ratio of the determined number of error bits to the determined number of error symbols; and determine whether the portion includes a defect based at least in part on whether the error ratio exceeds a first threshold, wherein the first threshold is selected based at least in part on a first estimated error ratio for a defect-free portion of the storage device, wherein the first estimated error ratio is calculated based on an assumption that a majority of error events associated with the defect-free portion include single-bit errors, di-bit errors, and tri-bit errors; and a communication interface coupled to the processor.