Feedforward equalizer noise suppression

A decision feedback equalizer (DFE) device, comprising:

• a feedforward equalizer configured to output a signal having a received (Rx) symbol;
• and
• a processing device configured to:
• compute, for one or more neighboring symbols that have been hard-sliced, a slicer error for each neighboring symbol as a difference between a slicer input and a corresponding slicer hard decision, and estimate a slicer-error correlation based on the slicer errors;
• compute one or more noise suppression slicer (NSS) coefficients based on the slicer error correlation;
• apply noise suppression to the slicer input by subtracting a weighted combination of the slicer errors using the NSS coefficients;
• and
• estimate the Rx symbol by applying a slicer hard decision to the noise-suppressed slicer input.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to:

• receive, from a feedforward equalizer, an output signal that defines a slicer input a received (Rx) symbol;
• initialize noise suppression slicer (NSS) parameters including one or more initial NSS coefficients and one or more initial slicer deferred decision (SDD) threshold offsets;
• determine one or more updated NSS coefficients based on slicer-error correlation;
• determine one or more updated SDD threshold offsets based at least in part on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or a signal to noise and distortion (SNDR) at the slicer input;
• and
• update the NSS parameters of a processing register based on the one or more updated NSS coefficients and the one or more updated SDD threshold offsets.