Power savings in channel equalizers using run-time reconfiguration

A channel equalizer is a major component in every communication system. Adaptive channel equalizers, which are used to compensate varying channels, are one of the most computationally intensive and power consuming components of a receiver. Power consumption is a major issue in portable communication systems and methods that provide power savings for channel equalizers are essential in mobile communications. Run-time reconfiguration (RTR) is a promising approach for reducing power consumption of many applications. We use run-time reconfiguration to reduce the power consumption of adaptive channel equalizers. Moreover, a simpler method (bypassing) is presented to take advantage of run-time reconfiguration benefits while avoiding the complexity and overhead of designing a run-time reconfigurable system. Simulation results show that the proposed run-time reconfigurable architecture reduces the power consumption by 15%.