Design and Implementation of an On-Demand Maximum-Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE)

This paper proposes a novel design for Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE) used in ultra-high-speed wireline communication. We take advantage of the propagated errors caused by Decision-Feedback Equalizer (DFE) to activate and guide the MLSE, thereby reducing its complexity. The design is customized for a 4-PAM, 1 + D signaling system, and synthesized in 16nm FinFET TSMC Technology. For comparison purposes, a conventional MLSE is also synthesized in the same technology. The synthesis report confirms that the proposed design consumes 1/10 of the power and occupies 1/15 of the area required by the conventional MLSE while having a comparable bit error rate.