Patent ID: 7042961

Claim:
A method for selecting an optimal threshold detection level for a single serial data input receiver, the method comprising: receiving a serial data stream of pseudorandom binary information; using a plurality of threshold detection levels, estimating bit values as follows: establishing a first threshold (V 1 ) to distinguish a high probability one bit value estimate; establishing a second threshold (V 0 ) to distinguish a high probability zero bit value estimate; and, establishing a third threshold (Vopt) to distinguish first bit estimates between the first and second thresholds; comparing the differences between estimated bit values as follows: for each received bit, examining outputs of the three thresholds; counting a first number of differences between the outputs of the first and third thresholds: counting a second number of differences between the outputs of the second and third thresholds; and, adjusting the threshold levels to minimize the difference between comparisons of estimated bit values by adjusting the first and second thresholds until the first number equals the second number.