Patent ID: 8245117

Claim:
A method for processing data, comprising: obtaining a length of an error locator polynomial; determining, using a processor in a data decoder, whether the length of the error locator polynomial is greater than a first threshold; in the event the length of the error locator polynomial is greater than the first threshold, skipping performance of a Chien search on the error locator polynomial; in the event the length of the error locator polynomial is less than or equal to than the first threshold, performing the Chien search on the error locator polynomial to determine one or more roots of the error locator polynomial, wherein the roots correspond to one or more error locations; prior to performing the Chien search, storing the error locator polynomial; determining whether a number of stored error locator polynomials is greater than a second threshold; and performing the Chien search on the error locator polynomial in the event the number of stored error locator polynomials is greater than the second threshold.