Patent ID: 7321620

Claim:
An equalizer for performing a waveform equalization on an input signal, comprising: a signal delay section including a plurality of delay elements connected in series with one another for delaying the input signal by the delay elements; selection signal production means for producing a selection signal for selecting one of a plurality of tap signal coefficient groups as a selected coefficient group based on a reference signal, which is one of a plurality of tap signals output from the signal delay section; a coefficient multiplication section for selecting the selected coefficient group based on the selection signal, and multiplying the tap signals output from the signal delay section with selected tap coefficients that belong to the selected coefficient group by using a plurality of coefficient units provided in the coefficient multiplication section, respectively; and an adder for adding together the tap signals from the coefficient multiplication section, which have been multiplied with the selected tap coefficients, to output a sum as a waveform-equalized signal.