Methods and apparatus are provided for computing reliability values in a pipeline. A reliability value portion is computed, with control circuitry in a first pipeline stage, based on a difference between a received input signal value and an expected value. The reliability value portion is combined, in a second pipeline stage that follows the first pipeline stage, with a first value derived from the received input signal to generate a first reliability value. A determination is made as to whether to update the first reliability value in a third pipeline stage based on a combination of the first reliability value with a second reliability value that corresponds to a second value derived from the received input signal.