Patent ID: 8452829

Claim:
A method for real-time optimization of a finite impulse response (FIR) filter through which a differential signal is transmitted, comprising: receiving the differential signal at a receiver; operating a dedicated pair of reference samplers to each sample the differential signal at a clock phase of 0 degree to extract error information from the received differential signal; operating a plurality of data samplers, including a first data sampler, a second data sampler, a third data sampler, and a fourth data sampler, to sample the differential signal at clock phases of 0 degree at the first data sampler, 90 degrees at the second data sampler, 180 degrees at the third data sampler, and 270 degrees at the fourth data sampler to further extract error information from the received differential signal, wherein the clock phases of 0 degree, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 280 degrees are of a same clock signal; and using the extracted error information to adjust one or more tap weights of the FIR filter to improve equalization of the received differential signal.