PRACTICAL 8-PSK BLOCK-CODED MODULATION WITH CONVOLUTIONAL-CODES AND SOFT DECISION BLOCK-CODES FOR PACKET NETWORKS

The design and performance of a class of practical rate 2/3, 8-PSK blo ck-coded modulation (BCM) (also referred to as multilevel modulation c odes) schemes are presented. These BCM schemes utilise both convolutio nal codes and block codes, and have block lengths that are matched wit h relatively short packet lengths to satisfy requirements in packet-wi reless networks. Decoding issues such as optimum signal metrics and so ft-decision decoding of block codes are addressed. Performance is eval uated and simulated. It is found that these BCM schemes exhibit a codi ng gain comparable to 16, 32 and 64 state Ungerboeck TCM codes, but re quire less complexity to decode.