Patent ID: 8098722

Claim:
A device configured to process a signal comprising a symbol sequence transmitted over a channel, said device comprising: a first filter having an input receiving said signal; and a feedback loop comprising a subtractor, a decision unit, and a second filter, wherein said subtractor is connected to subtract a decision feedback signal produced by said second filter from an output of said first filter, wherein said decision unit has an input connected to an output of said subtractor and an output connected to the input of said second filter, and wherein the second filter has coefficients weighted by a scalar value comprising a measure of decision reliability, the scalar value ranging between 0 and 1, wherein varying the scalar value adjusts the degree to which the decision feedback signal is relied upon for equalization, wherein the symbol sequence comprises a known symbol sequence positioned between consecutive data signal blocks in the symbol sequence and the first filter employs first filter coefficients selected at least in part using the known symbol sequence, and wherein the symbol sequence comprises a second known symbol sequence and the filter coefficients of the second filter and filter coefficients of a third filter are set using the difference between an output symbol sequence of the first filter and said second known symbol sequence.