Methods and systems for adaptive receiver equalization

A method for adaptively equalizing time staggered portions of a multi-gigabit analog information signal for a signal path, comprising the steps of:

• (1) sampling the multi-gigabit analog information signal at a plurality of phases;
• (2) measuring an equalization quality of the samples from one of the plurality of phases;
• (3) equalizing the samples from each of the phases based on the measured equalization quality of the one phase, wherein the equalizing includes minimizing differences between an average of post-transition sample amplitudes and an average of steady state sample amplitudes of the analog samples;
• and
• (4) quantizing the equalized samples.

A method for adaptively equalizing time staggered portions of a plurality of multi-gigabit analog information signals for respective signal paths, comprising the steps of:

• (1) generating clock signals from the plurality multi-gigabit analog information signals;
• (2) sampling each of the multi-gigabit analog information signals at a plurality of phases of the respective clock signals;
• (3) measuring an equalization quality of the samples from one of the plurality of phases for each of the multi-gigabit analog information signals;
• (4) equalizing the samples from each of the phases of each of the multi-gigabit analog information signals based on the measured equalization quality of the one phase of each of the respective multi-gigabit analog information signals, wherein the equalizing includes minimizing differences between an average of post-transition sample amplitudes and an average of steady state sample amplitudes of the analog samples;
• and
• (5) quantizing the equalized samples.

A method for adaptively equalizing a plurality of multi-gigabit analog information signals for respective signal paths, comprising the steps of:

• (1) generating a clock signal for each of the multi-gigabit analog information signals from each of the respective multi-gigabit analog information signals;
• (2) sampling each of the multi-gigabit analog information signals according to the respective clock signals;
• (3) performing an equalizing process on the samples, wherein the equalizing includes minimizing differences between an average of post-transition sample amplitudes and an average of steady state sample amplitudes of the analog samples;
• and
• (4) quantizing the equalized samples.

A system for quantizing a multi-gigabit serial analog information signal, comprising:

• a sampler configured to sample a multi-gigabit analog signal to generate analog samples;
• an equalizer coupled to said sampler and configured to minimize inter-symbol interferences in samples output from said sampler, said equalizer including a finite impulse response (“FIR”) having at least one adjustable tap;
• a quantizer coupled to said equalizer and configured to quantize equalized samples output from said equalizer;
• and
• control logic coupled to said FIR , said control logic including;
• a difference detector including a steady-state path, a post-transition path, and a combiner, wherein said combiner is configured to output an average difference between post-transition amplitudes of the equalized samples and steady-state amplitudes of the equalized samples;
• and
• a state machine coupled to one or more outputs of said difference detector and configured to generate said tap updates for said FIR according to said average difference.

A system for routing and adaptively equalizing high data rate analog data signals, comprising:

• a backplane having a plurality of signal paths;
• and
• at least one interface board coupled to said backplane, said interface board including a plurality of receivers coupled to said backplane signal paths, each said receiver including an adaptive equalizer;
• wherein each said adaptive equalizer is configured to adapt to an associated backplane signal path to equalize an analog data signal received from said associated backplane signal path;
• and
• wherein each said adaptive equalizer is configured to minimize differences between an average of post-transition sample amplitudes and an average of steady state sample amplitudes of the analog samples.