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Operational Aspects of Decision Feedback Equalizers

The central theme is the study of error propagation effects in decision feedback equalizers (DFEs). The thesis contains: a stochastic analysis of error propagation in a tuned DFE; an analysis of the effects of error propagation in a blindly adapted DFE; a deterministic analysis of error propagation through input-output stability ideas; and testing procedures for establishing correct tap convergence in blind adaptation. To a lesser extent, the decision directed equalizer (DDE) is also treated. Characterizing error propagation using finite state Markov process (FSMP) techniques is first considered. We classify how the channel and DFE parameters affect the FSMP model and establish tight bounds on the error probability and mean error recovery time of a tuned DFE. These bounds are shown to be too conservative for practical use and highlight the need for imposing stronger hypotheses on the class of channels for which a DFE may be effectively used. In blind DFE adaptation we show the effect of decision errors is to distort the adaptation relative to the use of a training sequence. The mean square error surface in a LMS type setting is shown to be a concatenation of quadratic functions exposing the possibility of false tap convergence to undesirable DFE parameter settings. Averaging analysis and simulation are used to verify this behaviour on some examples. Error propagation in a tuned DFE is also examined in a deterministic setting. A finite error recovery time problem is set up as an input-output stability problem. Passivity theory is invoked to prove that a DFE can be effectively used on a channel satisfying a simple frequency domain condition. These results give performance bounds which relate well with practice. Testing for false tap convergence in blind adaptation concludes our study. Simple statistic output tests are shown to be capable of discerning correct operation of a DDE. Similar tests are conjectured for the DFE, supported by proofs for the low dimensional cases.