Patent ID: 7394849

Claim:
An apparatus including a decision feedback equalizer with dynamic feedback control for adaptively controlling a pre-slicer data signal that is sliced to provide a post-slicer data signal, comprising: first signal combining circuitry that combines a feedback signal and an input signal representing a plurality of data to provide a pre-slicer signal; controllable delay circuitry, coupled to said first signal combining circuitry, that delays said pre-slicer signal in response to a delay control signal to produce a corresponding delayed pre-slicer signal; signal slicing circuitry, coupled to said first signal combining circuitry, that slices said pre-slicer signal to produce a post-slicer signal indicative of said plurality of data; decision feedback circuitry including input signal timing control, coupled to said controllable delay circuitry and said signal slicing circuitry, that feeds back said post-slicer signal in response to a timing control signal to produce said feedback signal; second signal combining circuitry, coupled to said controllable delay circuitry and said signal slicing circuitry, that combines said delayed pre-slicer signal and said post-slicer signal to produce a difference signal indicative of a difference between said delayed pre-slicer signal and post-slicer signal; signal differentiation circuitry with a selected signal delay that differentiates and delays said input signal to produce a resultant signal, wherein respective portions of said resultant signal are delayed relative to corresponding portions of said input signal by said selected signal delay; and third signal combining circuitry, coupled to said second signal combining circuitry and said signal differentiation circuitry, that combines said difference signal and said resultant signal to produce said delay control signal, wherein said selected signal delay is selected and said delayed pre-slicer signal is delayed relative to said pre-slicer signal such that said timing control signal has a substantially zero alternating current (AC) signal component.