Design of 16-QAM space-time trellis codes for quasi-static fading channels

We consider the design of 16-QAM space-time trellis codes (STTCs) for quasi-static Rayleigh flat fading channels. Based on the /spl Sigma//sub o/-rank criterion and the trace criterion, new 16-state and 64-state 16-QAM STTCs were constructed. The performance of the codes was evaluated by simulation. It is shown that the new 16-state code outperforms the previous hand-designed codes by about 1 dB.