1. A system for equalizing multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) channels, comprising: a MIMO equalizer that receives a channel output vector input (r), multiplies the channel output vector by a matrix F generating a triangularized channel output vector (y), divides the input into two complex vectors, a first complex vector (y 2 ) and a second complex vector (y 1 ), separates the second complex vector into its real and imaginary components (y 1 R and y 1 I), and regroups the first and second complex vectors to generate a hybrid channel output vector ( [ y 1 R y 1 I y 2 ] ) containing both real and complex coefficients and a hybrid channel matrix ( [ G 1 R - G 1 I 0 G 1 I G 1 R 0 G X jG X G 2 ] ) such that [ y 1 R y 1 I y 2 ] = [ G 1 R - G 1 I 0 G 1 I G 1 R 0 G X jG X G 2 ] ⁡ [ a 1 R a 1 I a 2 ] + [ n 1 R n 1 I n 2 ] , where a is signal vector, n is noise vector and where the subscripts R and I denote the real and imaginary coefficients, respectively, of the preceding matrix or vector.