Patent ID: 7287211

Claim:
A data readout device comprising: a likelihood data generating part generating a likelihood data in accordance with an iterative decoding method corresponding to a turbo-coding process, wherein the iterative decoding process is performed on a sampled value obtained by sampling a signal read out from a data recording medium at a predetermined sampling period; a hard-decision part performing a hard-decision on the likelihood data provided by said likelihood data generating part, and determining whether or not each data bit is one obtained from the likelihood data within a predetermined range in which the hard-decision is regarded as lacking sufficient reliability; and an error correcting decoder that performs an error correcting decoding operation using a predetermined rule and using a result of the determination made by said hard-decision part corresponding to said data bit so as to generate corrected decoded data, wherein said corrected decoded data provided by said error correcting decoder is then output from said data readout device without being provided to said likelihood data generating part, and further comprising a range-setting part that can set and adjust said predetermined range, wherein said range-setting part sets said predetermined range based on the number of repetitions of the decoding process in accordance with said iterative decoding method.