Method and apparatus for multiple antenna communications, and related systems and computer program

A device, comprising:

• a receiver for receiving symbols mapped with a modulation scheme having a number of constellation points identified by a sequence of bits, wherein the received symbols are grouped as a received vector;
• a first selector configured to select a first set of candidate sequences based on the constellation points of the modulation scheme and the received symbols, wherein the first selector further includes a number of soft decision logic blocks that is equivalent to a number of receiving antennae associated with the device and wherein the first selector is further configured to,
• calculate a soft decision, for each of the receiving antennas, based on the received vector and on a channel state information matrix modelling a transmission channel;
• select a set of candidate symbols for each antenna, wherein the first selector is configured to,
• select a local sub-set of constellation points for each possible sequence of bits for said first group of bits,
• select a local sub-set of candidate symbols for each sub-set of constellation points, wherein the first selector is further configured to select as candidate symbols the constellation points in said sub-set of constellation points having the shortest Euclidean distance from the soft decision,
• combine said local sub-set of candidate symbols in order to form said set of candidate sequences, and
• combine the sets of candidate symbols in order to form the set of candidate sequences;
• a first calculator configured to calculate a first set of probability information for the first set of candidate sequences;
• a first decoder configured to decode the first group of bits of the symbols encoded with a first encoding scheme based on the first set of probability information;
• an encoder configured to re-encode the decoded first group of bits of the symbols,
• a second selector configured to select a sub-set of constellation points based on the re-encoded first group of bits,
• a third selector configured to select a second set of said candidate sequences based on the sub-set of constellation points and the received symbols,
• a second calculator configured to calculate a second set of probability information for the second set of candidate sequences, and
• a second decoder configured to decode the second group of bits of the symbols encoded with a second encoding scheme based on the second set of probability information.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for receiving multi-level encoded symbols mapped with a modulation scheme having a number of constellation points identified by a sequence of bits arranged in at least a first group and a second group, the first group being encoded with a first encoding scheme and the second group being encoded with a second encoding scheme, and wherein the multi-level encoded symbols are transmitted by multiple transmitting elements and received by multiple receiving elements, the multiple transmitting and receiving elements jointly defining a transmission channel modeled by a channel state information matrix and the received symbols being grouped as a received vector, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed on a computer, are operable for:

• calculating a soft decision for each of a plurality of the receiving elements based on the received vector and on the channel state information matrix;
• for each of the receiving elements, selecting a first set of candidate sequences as a function of the constellation points of the modulation scheme and the received symbols, the selecting the first set of candidate sequences including,
• selecting a local sub-set of constellation points for each possible sequence or bits for the first group of bits;
• selecting a local sub-set of candidate symbols for each sub-set of constellation points;
• selecting as candidate symbols the constellation points in the sub-set of constellation points based upon the soft decision;
• and
• combining the sets of candidate symbols in order to form the first set of candidate sequences;
• calculating a first set of probability information for the first set of candidate sequences,
• decoding the first group of bits of the symbols encoded with a first encoding scheme as a function of the first set of probability information,
• re-encoding the decoded first group of bits of said symbols,
• selecting a sub-set of constellation points as a function of the re-encoded first group of bits,
• selecting a second set of said candidate sequences as a function of the sub-set of constellation points and the received symbols,
• calculating a second set of probability information for the second set of candidate sequences, and
• decoding the second group of bits of the symbols encoded with a second encoding scheme as a function of the second set of probability information.