Joint MIMO equalization and decoding for 10GBASE-T transmission

IEEE is interested in specifying the next generation 10 Gbit/s copper cable Ethernet network, termed 10GBASE-T. In the design of a 10GBASE-T transmission system up to 100 meters of a standard category-6 (CAT-6) copper cable, equalization and decoding play a significant role in achieving reliable data communication. In this paper, we focus on the design of the equalization and decoding processes and propose a vector transmission system of a 4-dimensional trellis coded-modulation (TCM) with 10-PAM signaling. At the receiver, a joint multiple-input multiple-output equalization and decoding with a survival path feedback equalizer (SPFE) is employed. Based on the design, simulation results show that reliable transmissions at less than 10^-12 BER can be achieved by the proposed system.