Method and apparatus for determining a calibration signal

A method for calibrating a signaling system, comprising:

• determining channel characteristics of the signaling system including
• capturing a single-bit response (SBR) for the signaling system;
• constructing an idealized inter-symbol-interference-free (ISI-free) SBR for the signaling system which is substantially free of inter-symbol-interference (ISI);
• calculating an ISI-residual from the captured SBR and the idealized ISI-free SBR
• constructing a calibration bit pattern for the signaling system that is based substantially on the ISI-residual;
• and
• using the calibration bit pattern to calibrate an aspect of the signaling system.

An apparatus that determines the performance of a signaling system, comprising:

• a measuring mechanism configured to capture a single-bit response (SBR) associated with the signaling system;
• a computation mechanism configured to,
• construct an idealized inter-symbol-interference-free (ISI-free) SBR for the signaling system which is substantially free of inter-symbol-interference (ISI),
• calculate an ISI-residual from the captured SBR and the idealized ISI-free SBR, and
• construct a calibration bit pattern for the signaling system that is based substantially on the ISI-residual;
• and
• a testing mechanism to use the calibration bit pattern to determine an aspect of the performance of the signaling system.

An apparatus that calibrates a signaling system, comprising:

• a measuring mechanism to determine channel characteristics of the signaling system and to capture a single-bit response (SBR) for the signaling system;
• a bit-pattern generation mechanism to
• construct an idealized inter-symbol-interference-free (ISI-free) SBR for the signaling system which is substantially free of inter-symbol-interference (ISI),
• calculate an ISI-residual from the captured SBR and the idealized ISI-free SBR,
• construct a calibration bit pattern for the signaling system that is based substantially in the ISI-residual;
• and
• a calibration mechanism to use the calibration bit pattern to calibrate an aspect of the signaling system.