Robust multilevel coding design using soft decision decoding

Based on a capacity rule and block partitioning strategy, a robust multilevel coding (MLC) scheme is proposed for AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels. Punctured convolutional codes using soft or hard decision Viterbi decoding are selected as component codes. The considerable performance gains over the uncoded 4ASK system are demonstrated by computer simulation and the results can present some references for the optimum criterion of multilevel coding design.