Adaptive data rate using ARQ and nonuniform constellations

We introduce an automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme that uses nonuniform signal constellations in order to adapt the data rate to the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in a fading channel without using channel state feedback or incremental redundancy. We have defined nonuniform phase shift key (PSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellations with an arbitrary number of classes of bits. These constellations may also be of interest for further research into unequal error protection. We present simulations of the throughput in Rayleigh fading and lognormal shadowing, and discuss the cases where our proposed scheme may improve the throughput compared to standard ARQ using uniform signal constellations.