Enhanced equalization based on a combination of reduced complexity MLSE and linear equalizer for heavily ISI-induced signals

1. A system for digitally equalizing a data communication channel with heavily Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)-induced signals received after passing said data communication channel using a combination of a linear equalizer and a nonlinear equalizer, the system comprising:

a) an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC), for sampling a received signal and converting said received signal to a digital form;

b) a Linear Equalizer for pre-processing said received signal, said Linear Equalizer is adapted to modify an impulse response of said data communication channel by:

pre-process some channel taps of the induced Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) signals, which are less effective taps but having a level above a noise level of said data communication channel, and eliminate said less effective channel taps redistributing energy of said less effective channel taps among the remaining channel taps and totally eliminate said less effective taps having a level below the noise level of said data communication channel, without redistributing their energy among the remaining channel taps;

c) a nonlinear equalizer for receiving the ISI induced signals preprocessed by said Linear Equalizer and for further processing said preprocessed signals and eliminating the channel taps of the induced Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) signals to be equalized by said nonlinear equalizer; and

d) a linear feedback circuitry for continuously adapting filter taps of said Linear Equalizer by constructing an error signal according to a relation between i) samples of the signal received by said data communication channel, ii) an output of the nonlinear equalizer, and iii) an output of the Linear Equalizer, such that an input to said nonlinear equalizer includes only taps that are covered by said nonlinear equalizer, thereby compensating for the entire Inter Symbol Interference signals induced by said channel.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the linear feedback circuitry comprises:

a) a channel estimation block for receiving the received signal at one input and decoded symbols from an output of the nonlinear equalizer at another input, to estimate a channel's impulse response signal;

a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) block for:

a.1) receiving a signal which includes the channel taps that are covered by said nonlinear equalizer, from said channel estimation block;

a.2) receiving the decoded symbols from the output of said nonlinear equalizer;

a.3) constructing an output signal at its output;

b) an adder for generating the error signal being a difference between the ISI induced signals at an output of said Linear Equalizer and the output of said FIR block; and

c) a tap adaptation block for minimizing said error signal, such that an input to said nonlinear equalizer includes only taps which are covered by said nonlinear equalizer.

3. The system according to claim 1 , in which the nonlinear equalizer is a Reduced Complexity Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (RC-MLSE).

4. The system according to claim 1 , being adapted to equalize received signals with high order modulations, including:

Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM)-2;

PAM-4;

PAM-8;

PAM-16;

Optical Dual Binary (ODB) modulation;

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK);

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)-8; and

QAM- 16.

5. The system according to claim 1 , being adapted to perform digital equalization of data channels in data networks, including:

data center intra-connection;

data center interconnection;

metropolitan point-to-point connection; and

metropolitan Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM).

6. A method for digitally equalizing a data communication channel with heavily Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)-induced signals received after passing a data communication channel, the method comprising:

a) sampling a received signal and converting said received signal to a digital form;

b) modifying an impulse response of said data communication channel by pre-processing, using a Linear Equalizer, some channel taps of the induced Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) signals, which are less effective taps but having a level above a noise level of said data communication channel;

c) eliminate, by using a Linear Equalizer, said less effective channel taps by redistributing energy of said less effective channel taps among the remaining channel taps;

d) totally eliminate said less effective taps having a level below the noise level of said data communication channel, without redistributing their energy among the remaining channel taps;

e) receiving signals preprocessed by said Linear Equalizer by a nonlinear equalizer;

f) continuously adapting, by a linear feedback circuitry, filter taps of the Linear Equalizer according to a relation between i) samples of the signal received by said data communication channel, ii) an output of the nonlinear equalizer, and iii) an output of the Linear Equalizer, such that an input to said nonlinear equalizer includes only taps that are covered by said nonlinear equalizer; and

g) compensating for the entire Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) induced by said channel by further processing, by said nonlinear equalizer, said preprocessed signals and eliminating the channel taps of the induced Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) signals to be equalized by said nonlinear equalizer.