Method and apparatus for encoding a modulated signal in a communication system

1. A method for encoding a modulated signal to be transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver in a communication system, comprising:

generating an initial constellation of the modulated signal, wherein the initial constellation has initial symbols defined by an initial symbol abscissa and an initial symbol ordinate;

applying a vertical axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a first resulting constellation comprising first resulting symbols defined by a first resulting symbol abscissa and a first resulting symbol ordinate, wherein the first resulting symbol abscissa is an additive inverse of the initial symbol abscissa and the first resulting symbol ordinate has a same value of the initial symbol ordinate;

translating the first resulting constellation to a left direction of the initial constellation to produce a left flipped constellation comprising left flipped symbols defined by a left flipped symbol abscissa and a left flipped symbol ordinate;

applying a horizontal axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a second resulting constellation comprising second resulting symbols defined by a second resulting symbol abscissa and a second resulting symbol ordinate, wherein the second resulting symbol ordinate is an additive inverse of the initial symbol ordinate and the second resulting symbol abscissa has a same value of the initial symbol abscissa;

translating the second resulting constellation to an up direction of the initial constellation to produce an up flipped constellation comprising up flipped symbols defined by an up flipped symbol abscissa and an up flipped symbol ordinate

applying a central axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a third resulting constellation comprising third resulting symbols defined by a third resulting symbol abscissa and a third resulting symbol ordinate; and

translating the third resulting constellation to a left-up direction of the initial constellation to produce a left-up flipped constellation comprising left-up flipped symbols defined by a left-up flipped symbol abscissa and a left-up flipped symbol ordinate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third resulting symbol abscissa is an additive inverse of the initial symbol abscissa and the third resulting symbol ordinate is an additive inverse of the initial symbol ordinate.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

applying a horizontal axis symmetry to the left flipped constellation to generate a third resulting constellation comprising third resulting symbols defined by a third resulting symbol abscissa and a third resulting symbol ordinate; and

translating the third resulting constellation to an up direction of the left flipped constellation to produce a left-up flipped constellation comprising left-up flipped symbols defined by a left-up flipped symbol abscissa and a left-up flipped symbol ordinate.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the third resulting symbol ordinate is an additive inverse of the left flipped symbol ordinate and the third resulting symbol abscissa has a same value of the left flipped symbol abscissa.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

applying a vertical axis symmetry to the up flipped constellation to generate a third resulting constellation comprising third resulting symbols defined by a third resulting symbol abscissa and a third resulting symbol ordinate; and

translating the third resulting constellation to a left direction of the up flipped constellation to produce a left-up flipped constellation comprising left-up flipped symbols defined by a left-up flipped symbol abscissa and a left-up flipped symbol ordinate.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the third resulting symbol abscissa is an additive inverse of the up flipped symbol abscissa and the third resulting symbol ordinate has a same value of the up symbol ordinate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial constellation, the left flipped constellation, the up flipped constellation, and the left-up flipped constellation define a super constellation.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising replicating the super constellation to produce a transmitter lattice.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the transmitter lattice is applied to a dirty paper coding technique.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

selecting a symbol from the transmitter lattice, wherein the selected symbol is an image of an initial symbol in the initial constellation; and

transmitting the selected symbol to the receiver.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising repeating the steps of selecting the symbol and transmitting the selected symbol for each symbol corresponding to a data to be transmitted to the receiver.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising

at the receiver:

receiving a signal;

generating a point relating to a received symbol of the received signal on a receiver lattice;

mapping a corresponding point to the generated point in an initial constellation of the receiver lattice;

associating a symbol to the corresponding point in the initial constellation; and

decoding the associated symbol.

13. A method for encoding a modulated signal to be transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver in a multi-user multi input multi output communication system, comprising:

generating an initial constellation of the modulated signal, wherein the initial constellation has initial symbols defined by an initial symbol abscissa and an initial symbol ordinate;

applying a vertical axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a first resulting constellation comprising first resulting symbols defined by a first resulting symbol abscissa and a first resulting symbol ordinate;

translating the first resulting constellation to a left direction of the initial constellation to produce a left flipped constellation comprising left flipped symbols defined by a left flipped symbol abscissa and a left flipped symbol ordinate;

applying a horizontal axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a second resulting constellation comprising second resulting symbols defined by a second resulting symbol abscissa and a second resulting symbol ordinate; and

translating the second resulting constellation to an up direction of the initial constellation to produce an up flipped constellation comprising up flipped symbols defined by an up flipped symbol abscissa and an up flipped symbol ordinate;

applying a central axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a third resulting constellation comprising third resulting symbols defined by a third resulting symbol abscissa and a third resulting symbol ordinate; and

translating the third resulting constellation to a left-up direction of the initial constellation to produce a left-up flipped constellation comprising left-up flipped symbols defined by a left-up flipped symbol abscissa and a left-up flipped symbol ordinate,

wherein the initial constellation, the left flipped constellation, the up flipped constellation, and the left-up flipped constellation define a super constellation, and

wherein a first symbol of the super constellation is transmitted to the receiver using a dirty paper coding technique.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein generating, applying, and translating are performed by a precoder in the transmitter.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the dirty paper coding technique is called sphere encoding.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising

at the receiver:

receiving a signal comprising the first symbol;

generating a point relating to the first symbol on a receiver lattice;

mapping a corresponding point to the generated point in an initial constellation of the receiver lattice;

associating a second symbol to the corresponding point in the initial constellation; and

decoding the second symbol, wherein decoding is performed by a fold back operator in the receiver and wherein the receiver utilizes a modulo function.

17. An apparatus for encoding a modulated signal to be transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver in a communication system, comprising:

means for generating an initial constellation of the modulated signal, wherein the initial constellation has initial symbols defined by an initial symbol abscissa and an initial symbol ordinate;

means for applying a vertical axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a first resulting constellation comprising first resulting symbols defined by a first resulting symbol abscissa and a first resulting symbol ordinate, wherein the first resulting symbol abscissa is an additive inverse of the initial symbol abscissa and the first resulting symbol ordinate has a same value of the initial symbol ordinate;

means for translating the first resulting constellation to a left direction of the initial constellation to produce a left flipped constellation comprising left flipped symbols defined by a left flipped symbol abscissa and a left flipped symbol ordinate;

means for applying a horizontal axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a second resulting constellation comprising second resulting symbols defined by a second resulting symbol abscissa and a second resulting symbol ordinate, wherein the second resulting symbol ordinate is an additive inverse of the initial symbol ordinate and the second resulting symbol abscissa has a same value of the initial symbol abscissa;

means for translating the second resulting constellation to an up direction of the initial constellation to produce an up flipped constellation comprising up flipped symbols defined by an up flipped symbol abscissa and an up flipped symbol ordinate

means for applying a central axis symmetry to the initial constellation to generate a third resulting constellation comprising third resulting symbol abscissa and a third resulting symbol ordinate; and

means for translating the third resulting constellation to a left-up direction of the initial constellation to produce a left-up flipped constellation comprising left-up flipped symbols defined by a left-up flipped symbol abscissa and a left-up flipped symbol ordinate.