Systems and methods for communicating using short messages

A transmitter comprising:

• (a) an encoder configured to utilize a distribution matcher, an error detection encoder, and a trellis-coded-modulation encoder to process a sequence of binary message bits to produce an output sequence of modulation symbols;
• (b) wherein the distribution matcher is configured to take as input the sequence of binary message bits and produce as output a sequence of symbols that belong to a distribution matcher codebook, wherein the distribution matcher codebook produces output symbols that approximate a finite-support probability mass function;
• (c) wherein the error detection encoder is configured to take as input a binary representation of the sequence of symbols output by the distribution matcher and produce as output an error detection codeword, where:
• (i) the error detection codeword is based on an error detection code polynomial, and
• (ii) said error detection codeword is a longer binary sequence than the binary representation of the sequence of symbols output by the distribution matcher;
• (d) wherein the trellis-coded-modulation encoder comprises:
• (i) a convolutional encoder configured to take as input a binary input obtained from the error detection codeword and produce a convolution encoder output sequence;
• and
• (ii) a signal mapper configured to produce the output sequence of modulation symbols responsive to the convolutional encoder output sequence;
• and
• (e) wherein an input to the trellis-coded-modulation encoder is a result of processing by both the distribution matcher and the error detection encoder.