Patent ID: 6985633

Claim:
A codeword decoder for decoding one of a plurality of codewords, each codeword including a class code and a symbol code selected from the group consisting of literals and index codes, the codeword decoder comprising: (a) a symbol memory for storing symbols corresponding to respective index codes; (b) a class code decoder for extracting, from the codeword, information for decoding the symbol code of the codeword, said information for decoding the symbol code of the codeword including: (i) an indication of whether the symbol code of the codeword is a literal, and (ii) if the symbol code of the codeword is an index code, information related to an address in said symbol memory of said respective symbol of said index code; and (c) a symbol code decoder for receiving the codeword and for decoding the symbol code of the codeword, based on said information for decoding the symbol code of the codeword.