Re: [PATCH / RFC] Shared Reed-Solomon ECC Library

[Bill Davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com>]

Thomas Gleixner wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> the attached patch contains a shared Reed-Solomon Library analogous to
> the shared zlib.
> 
> (N)AND FLASH is gaining popularity and there are a lot of ASIC/SoC/FPGA
> controllers around which implement hardware support for Reed-Solomon
> error correction. As usual they use different implementations
> (polynomials etc.). So it's obvious to use a shared library for the
> common tasks of error correction.
> 
> A short scan through the kernel revealed that at least the ftape driver
> uses Reed-Solomon error correction. It could be easily converted to use
> the shared library code. 
> 
> The encoder/decoder code is lifted from the GPL'd userspace RS-library
> written by Phil Karn. I modified/wrapped it to provide the different
> functions which we need in the MTD/NAND code.
> 
> The library is tested in extenso under various MTD/NAND configurations.
> 
> The lib should be usable for other purposes right out of the box.
> Adjustment for currently not implemented functionality is an easy task.
> 
> I'm willing to take the maintainership of the library.

One use would be very reliable CD/DVD for backup. I believe there's a 
freshmeat project which addresses this problem, but a reliable optical 
device certainly sounds easy using this approach.

-- 
    -bill davidsen (davidsen@tmr.com)
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
  last possible moment - but no longer"  -me