摘要 |
Method and apparatus for efficient encoding of symbols with multilevel encoding, where components of the symbols that are more susceptible to errors are encoded more robustly than components that are less susceptible to error. A non-binary constellation of symbols is handled with a fractional bit rate converter that combines with the multilevel encoder to create an effective and efficient constellation of symbols. Illustratively, digital data is encoded and mapped onto a set of symbols, with the two least significant bits of the symbols being encoded with a multi-level code. The least significant bit is encoded with a code that is more robust than the code of the next-to-least significant bit, in recognition of the fact that errors in the least significant bit are much more likely. The most significant bits are mapped with the aid of a fractional bit rate mapper that optimizes a selected aspect of the symbol constellation, such as average power.
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