Patent ID: 7653126

Claim:
A method of controlling the operation of an equalizer, wherein the equalizer is adapted to receive a transmitted signal comprising at least one predetermined sequence of symbols, the method comprising the steps of: developing a set of samples from a received signal; identifying at least one plurality of samples from the set of samples, wherein the at least one plurality of samples corresponds to the at least one predetermined sequence of symbols; and operating the equalizer in a selected one of: a first mode if the at least one plurality of samples is identified, wherein the first mode includes a step of developing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from the set of samples and a step of comparing the at least one plurality of samples with the at least one predetermined sequence of symbols to modify coefficients of taps of the equalizer; a second mode if the at least one plurality of samples is identified and the SNR is greater than a first predetermined threshold; and a third mode if the at least one plurality of samples is identified and the SNR is greater than a second predetermined threshold, wherein the third mode utilizes a decision directed equalization technique to modify coefficients of taps of the equalizer.