Design of a 6 Gbps continuous-time adaptive equalizer using a voltage rectifier instead of a power detector

Abstract

Two types of voltage rectifiers, CMOS based and diode based, are compared for potential application in an adaptive equalizer feedback loop. The CMOS rectifier, however, works only at lower frequencies and is limited by the maximum rectification frequency. Instead, voltage rectification in an adaptive equalizer is demonstrated by simulation using an ideal Schottky diode. Prior work done by other researchers on this topic, use a power detector, instead of a voltage rectifier. This paper shows that a voltage rectifier, instead of a power detector, can also be used in the adaptive equalizer topology discussed.