Optimum space-time convolutional codes

Optimum space-time convolutional codes, that provide maximum diversity and coding gain, are produced for cases with PSK modulation and various numbers of states and antennas. The codes are found using a new approach introduced recently in a companion paper. The new approach provides an efficient method that allows a search for optimum codes for many practical problems, while previous research was only able to find optimum codes for a single case. The new approach also provides a simple method for augmenting the criteria of maximum diversity and coding gain with a new measure which is shown to be extremely useful for evaluating code performance without extensive simulations.