In training a SERDES, a Common Electrical Interface (CEI) training frame,
having certain bits of information embedded therein, is transmitted over
a path which comprises transmitter, channel, and receiver components. The
present invention analyzes the resulting received signal and determines
the effective aggregate channel impulse response of these three
components. The invention then determines an estimate of the inverse of
this aggregate channel and uses this determination to reduce distortions
that have been introduced into a signal that has been transmitted over
the path.