Finite-length predictive decision feedback equalizer design for multipath channels with large delay spread

Decision feedback equalizers (DFEs) have been widely used to mitigate the effect of intersymbol interference. Most previous studies have focused on conventional DFEs (CDFEs), and relatively little research has addressed predictive DFEs (PDFEs). A finite-length minimum-mean-squared-error predictive DFE (MMSE-PDFE) was developed herein in the presence of multipath channels with large delay spread. We found that the MMSE-PDFE may have lower computational complexity and achieve a better symbol error rate performance than the existing MMSE-CDFE. Therefore, the proposed MMSE-PDFE may offer a viable alternative to the MMSE-CDFE. Computer simulations were conducted to verify our results using highly dispersive multipath channels.