Variable-rate trellis coded modulation using punctured codes

A new trellis coded modulation scheme using punctured convolutional codes is suggested for wireless data communications. Through bit-by-bit interleaving of the encoder output and simple iterative decoding using hard-decision feedback, the scheme can achieve both high diversity order and large free Euclidean distance simultaneously. Therefore, it performs very well in both uncorrelated Rayleigh fading and additive white Gaussian noise channels. Furthermore, the scheme provides a very simple mechanism for variable-rate transmission through the use of punctured codes.