Patent ID: 7474695

Claim:
A method for equalizing a first complex quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) signal, comprising: applying a second complex QAM signal to a first decision device; combining the second complex QAM signal and the output of the first decision device to produce a complex error term; applying the complex error term to a single tap derotator to produce a correction term; applying the first complex QAM signal and the correction term to a multiplier to produce the second complex QAM signal; applying the second complex QAM signal to a feed forward equalizer (FFE); combining an output of the FFE and a timing reference signal to produce a timed signal; combining the timed signal and an output of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to produce a summed signal; applying the summed signal to a second decision device; applying an output of the second decision device to the DFE; combining the summed signal with the output of the second decision device to produce an error signal; applying the error signal to a QAM phase detector or a VSB phase detector based on a modulation of the first complex QAM; and generating the timing reference signal based on an output of the QAM phase detector or an output of the VSB phase detector.