Patent attributes
The invention provides a method for implementing demodulation of quadrature layered modulation (QLM) communications using maximum likelihood (ML) demodulation algorithms which limit the demodulation loss. QLM layers communications channels over the same bsndwidth and with a differentiating parameter for each layer which enables a demodulation algorithm to recover the data symbols in each layer. QLM supports higher data rates than allowed by the Shannon bound. QLM demodulation algorithms are trellis symbol algorithms, trellis bit algorithms, ML algorithms, and other equivalent algorithms. Trellis algorithms rapidly increase in complexity with the number of layers of communications and with the order of the modulation. ML algorithms are less complex but have demodulation losses which rapidly increase with the number of data symbols. ML demodulation architectures disclosed in this invention limit these losses and are suitable to implement QLM for higher order modulations and for more layers of communications.