Newton's identitires and reed solomon decoding

From: Ritesh (ritesh.panjabi_at_gmail.com)
Date: 03/04/05 

Date: 3 Mar 2005 20:49:36 -0800

Hi!!!
I am currently working on a Reed Solomon Codec. My team as finished
working on the encoder section and it works like a charm thanks to all
the people on google Groups. I have started studding how the decoder
works from ‘Error Control systems for Digital communication & storage'
by Stephen B. Wicker. We are currently studding the following decoders

1. Peterson – Gorenstein – Zierler Decoder
2. The Berlekamp – Massey Alogrithm
3. Euclid's Algorithm

The every first two pages of the text includes something called the
Newton's Identities and unfortunately we have no clue what they are
and how they work and what are they used for. Needless to say the rest
to the text becomes almost impossible to understand.

If you have any information about Newton's identities and the RS
decoders mentioned above please let me know. Your contribution is
highly appreciated.

Thank you,

Sincerely,
Ritesh
Electronics & Telecommunication (Engineering Student)