Multi-stream priority-based space-time coding

1. A method of space-time coding, comprising:

establishing a priority for each of a plurality of data streams;

allocating a number of data bits for each of the plurality of data streams;

determining a desired signal quality for each of the plurality of data streams based on the corresponding priority;

modulating each of the plurality of data steams according to the allocated number of data bits of each of the plurality of data streams;

selecting a space-time code for each of the plurality of data streams based at least partially on the desired signal quality for each of the plurality of data streams, wherein at least one of the space-time codes is at least one of a vector or a matrix;

space-time coding each of the modulated data streams with the selected space-time code;

summing the space-time coded modulated data streams; and

transmitting the space-time coded modulated data streams.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein summing the space-time coded modulated data streams comprises weighting and summing the space-time coded modulated data streams, wherein the weighting of each space-time coded modulated stream is based at least in part on the desired signal quality corresponding with each data stream.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein weighting of at least one modulated data stream is different than at least one other modulated data stream.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a same space-time code is used for more than one data stream.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the space-time coded modulated data streams over at least one of multiple transmit antennas or multiple units of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a size of the vector or matrix is dependent upon a number of transmitter antennas of a transceiver utilizing the method of space-time coding.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the space-time code for at least one of the data streams is different than the space-time code of at least one other data stream.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the space-time code for each of the plurality of data streams comprises:

selecting a first space-time code to be an Alamouti space-time code; and

selecting a second space-time code based at least in part on the selected first space-time code.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second space-time code is a unitary transform of the first space-time code.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein a transceiver utilizing the method of space-time coding comprises two transmit antennas, and wherein selecting the second space-time code based at least in part on the selected first space-time code comprises: deriving the second space-time code based on the first space time code, a G matrix and a D matrix, wherein

G

=

[

g

1

-

g

2

*

g

2

g

1

*

]

,

and

D

=

[

ⅇ

ⅈ

⁡

(

π

2

+

θ

)

0

0

ⅇ

ⅈ

⁡

(

π

2

-

θ

)

]

.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the desired signal quality for the expected modulated data streams of each of the plurality of data streams based on the corresponding priority comprises determining a desired relative signal to noise ratio (SNR) difference between at least two of the plurality of data streams.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the desired signal quality for the expected modulated data streams of each of the plurality of data streams based on the corresponding priority comprises determining an absolute signal to noise ratio (SNR) required by at least one of the plurality of data streams.

13. A method of space-time coding, comprising:

establishing a priority for each of a plurality of data streams;

modulating each of the plurality of data steams according to an allocated number of data bits of each of the plurality of data streams;

determining a desired signal quality for each of the plurality of data streams based on the corresponding priority;

jointly selecting a space-time code and weighting for each of the plurality of data streams based at least partially on the desired signal quality for each of the plurality of data streams, wherein at least one of the space-time codes is at least one of a vector or a matrix;

space-time coding each of the modulated data streams by linearly combining the modulated data streams using the jointly selected space-time code and weighting; and

transmitting the space-time coded modulated data streams.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of base stations of a wireless broadcast system, wherein each base station broadcasts a plurality of space-time coded signal.

15. A method of transmitting a plurality of space-time coded signals, comprising:

modulating each of the plurality of data steams according to a priority of the data stream;

space-time coding each of the modulated data streams with a corresponding constituent space-time code and weight, wherein the space-time code and weight of each modulated data stream is based at least partially on a desired signal quality for each of the plurality of modulated data streams, and wherein at least one of the constituent space-time codes is at least one of a vector or a matrix;

summing the space-time coded modulated data streams; and

transmitting the summed space-time coded modulated data streams.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the constituent space-time code for at least one of the data streams is different than the space-time code of at least one other data stream.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein a same constituent space-time code is used for more than one data stream.

18. A method of receiving a signal, comprising:

receiving the signal;

determining at least one of high-priority information or low-priority information by demodulating the signal using knowledge of priority-based space-time coding and weighting of a plurality of transmitted constituent space-time code matrices, wherein a transmitted constituent space-time code is associated with each of a plurality of priority-based transmitted streams, and wherein the priority base space-time coding includes priority-base modulation and a weighted sum of constituent space-time codes.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising additionally using knowledge of a number of bits per channel used for each of the priority-base data streams for demodulation the signal.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising deducing a high-priority bit stream and low-priority bit stream based on the high-priority information and the low-priority information.

21. The method of claim 18 , further comprising determining only a subset of the at least one of a high-priority information or low-priority information based on a level of signal quality of the received signal.

22. The method of claim 18 , further comprising determining only a subset of the at least one of a high-priority information or low-priority information based on an external factor.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the signal is received through multiple antennas.