High-speed parallel decision feedback equalizer

摘要

A decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) can be operated at higher frequencies when parallelization and pre-computation techniques are employed. Disclosed herein is a DFE design suitable for equalizing receive signals with bit rates above 10 GHz, making it feasible to employ decision feedback equalization in silicon-based optical transceiver modules. One illustrative embodiment includes a front end filter to reduce leading intersymbol interference in a receive signal; a serial-to-parallel converter and at least one pre-compensation unit that together convert the filtered signal into grouped sets of tentative decisions, the sets in each group being made available in parallel; a set of pipelined DFE multiplexer units to select a contingent symbol decision from each set of tentative decisions to form groups of contingent symbol decisions based on a presumed sequence of preceding symbol decisions; and an output multiplexer that chooses, based on preceding symbol decisions, one of said groups of contingent symbol decisions.

主权项

1. A high speed equalization method that comprises:
deriving at each of multiple consecutive time intervals a set of tentative decisions, each tentative decision accounting for a respective degree of trailing intersymbol interference; forming a parallel group from a series of said sets of tentative decisions; applying the parallel group to a set of pipelined DFE multiplexer units, each said unit selecting a contingent symbol decision from each set of tentative decisions in the group to form a group of contingent symbol decisions based on a different presumed sequence of preceding symbol decisions; and choosing, based on an actual sequence of preceding symbol decisions, one of said groups of contingent symbol decisions as a group of actual symbol decisions.