Accurate Statistical BER Analysis of DFE Error Propagation in the Presence of Residual ISI

This brief discusses the limitation of previously published statistical decision feedback equalizer (DFE) models when residual inter-symbol interference (ISI) is present and proposes a method that overcomes this limitation. The paper presents an accurate closed-form expression for the DFE with residual ISI and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). The analysis is extended to 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) to cover serial links of current interest. The results verify that the proposed model estimates an accurate bit error rate (BER).