Method and apparatus for equalization of a signal which is transmitted via a user channel using the DF method, and taking into account an interference channel

1. A method for equalization of a signal of a user utilizing an equalizer, wherein the signal is transmitted via a user channel using a decision feedback (DF) method, and taking into account an interference signal which is transmitted via an interference channel, comprising:

processing a trellis diagram for the user channel, with a DF contribution that is used in the trellis diagram processing containing information about the interference channel;

wherein the signal of the user is equalized in the equalizer based on the interference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the information about the interference channel within the DF contribution comprises a product of a symbol and a channel parameter of the interference channel, or is a sum of said products.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DF contribution also contains information about the user channel.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising processing a trellis diagram for the interference channel in order to calculate the information about the interference channel for the DF contribution for processing the trellis diagram for the user channel.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising using a DF contribution that contains information about the user channel in the processing of the trellis diagram for the interference channel.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the information about the interference channel comprises a best path through the trellis diagram for the interference channel relating to a relevant time unit.

7. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the information about the user channel comprises a best path through the trellis diagram for the user channel relating to a relevant time unit.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein processing the trellis diagram for the interference channel and using the interference channel information for the user channel trellis diagram processing comprises:

processing of a time unit in the trellis diagram for the interference channel by calculation of branch metric values and state metric values using a Viterbi algorithm;

updating interference channel path information which is associated with the trellis states for the interference channel;

calculating the information about the interference channel from the updated interference channel path information; and

processing of a time unit in the trellis diagram for the user channel by calculation of branch metric values and state metric values of the user channel taking into account the DF contribution, which contains the information about the interference channel, using a Viterbi algorithm.

9. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising:

updating the user channel path information which is associated with the trellis states of the user channel;

calculating the information about the user channel from the updated user channel path information; and

processing of a time unit in the trellis diagram for the interference channel by calculation of branch metric values and state metric values of the interference channel taking into account the DF contribution, which contains the information about the user channel, using the Viterbi algorithm.

10. A decision feedback (DF) equalizer configured for equalization of a signal of a user channel using a DF method, comprising:

a hardware calculation circuit configured to calculate branch metric values and to take into account DE contributions, wherein the DF contributions comprise information about an interference signal which is transmitted via an interference channel, and

a trellis processing circuit coupled to an output of the hardware calculation circuit and configured to receive the calculated branch metric values, wherein the trellis processing circuit is further configured to process a trellis diagram for the user channel based on the calculated branch metric values.

11. The DF equalizer according to claim 10 , wherein the trellis processing circuit is further configured to process trellis diagrams for the interference channel based on the calculated branch metric values.

12. A method for equalization of a received signal of a user transmitted over a user channel utilizing an equalizer, comprising:

establishing a trellis diagram for the user channel using a decision feedback (DF) method in accordance with a Viterbi algorithm;

calculating a branch metric for each possible state transition in the user channel trellis diagram, wherein each branch metric comprises a trellis contribution and a DF contribution, and wherein calculating the DF contribution of the branch metric for the user channel employs information associated with an interference signal transmitted via an interference channel; and

identifying path vectors through the user channel trellis diagram that lead to each state based on a minimum state metric value, wherein state metric values are calculated using the branch metric values of the user channel trellis diagram;

wherein the received signal of the user is equalized in the equalizer according to the interference signal information.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the signal of the user comprises a stream of user symbols transmitted by the user and the interference signal comprises a stream of interference symbols transmitted by the interference channel.

14. The DF equalizer according to claim 10 , further comprising:

a user pre-filter configured to output the signal of the user comprising a stream of the user symbols, and

an interference pre-filter configured to output the interference signal comprising a stream of the interference symbols.