ADC-Based Receiver Calibration and Equalization Techniques

Growing serial I/O data rates over both severe low-pass electrical and dispersive optical channels necessitates increased equalization complexity and consideration of more bandwidth-efficient modulation schemes, such as four-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM4). Serial links which utilize ADC-based receiver front-ends offer a potential solution, as they enable more powerful and flexible DSP for equalization and symbol detection and can easily support advanced modulation schemes. This talk covers gives an overview of high-speed ADC topologies and common imperfections, calibration techniques, and digital equalization implementations.