Apparatus and associated methods to perform space-frequency interleaving in a multicarrier wireless communication channel

1. A method, comprising:

receiving data bits for transmission;

forward error correcting (FEC) the received data bits, wherein the data bits are coded using a Reed Solomon code then a convolutional code;

interleaving the coded bits in a multicarrier communication channel according to a number of coded bits per Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (N cbps ), wherein the interleaving is performed by:

mapping adjacent coded bits onto non-adjacent subcarriers in the channel; then

mapping the adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of a constellation to avoid long runs of low reliability bits, wherein a number of bits used is dependent upon a modulation type;

introducing a guard interval to the interleaved and modulated coded bits to form an OFDM symbol; and

transmitting the OFDM symbol in the multicarrier communication channel from two or more antennas.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including interleaving the coded bits in the multicarrier communication channel using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) interleaving.

3. The method of claim 2 , further including converting the number of bits into complex numbers representing QAM constellation points.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the conversion to complex numbers is performed according to Gray coded constellation mappings.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of bits is 1 for binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), 2 for quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), 4 for 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and 6 for 64-QAM.

6. The method of claim 1 , further including mapping the adjacent coded bits, each coded bit having a first index (k), onto non-adjacent subcarriers to provide a second index (i) for each coded bit.

7. The method of claim 6 , further including mapping the adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of the constellation to provide a third index (j) for each coded bit.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a host device to provide data bits for transmission via two or more tones in a multicarrier communication channel;

an agent to receive the data bits from the host device, wherein the agent is configured to:

forward error correct (FEC) the received data bits, wherein the data bits are coded using a Reed Solomon code then a convolutional code;

interleave the coded bits in the channel according to a number of coded bits per Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (N cbps ), wherein the interleaving is performed by:

mapping adjacent coded bits onto non-adjacent subcarriers in the channel; then

mapping the adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of a constellation to avoid long runs of low reliability bits, wherein a number of bits used is dependent upon a modulation type;

introducing a guard interval to the interleaved and modulated coded bits to form an OFDM symbol; and

a plurality of antennas to transmit the OFDM symbol in the multicarrier communication channel.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the agent interleaves the coded bits in the multicarrier communication channel using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) interleaving.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the agent converts the number of bits into complex numbers representing QAM constellation points.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the conversion to complex numbers is performed according to Gray coded constellation mappings.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the number of bits is 1 for binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), 2 for quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), 4 for 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and 6 for 64-QAM.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the agent maps the adjacent coded bits, each coded bit having a first index (k), onto non-adjacent subcarriers to provide a second index (i) for each coded bit.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the agent maps the adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of the constellation to provide a third index (j) for each coded bit.

15. An article comprising a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computing platform, results in:

receiving data bits for transmission;

forward error correcting (FEC) the received data bits, wherein the data bits are coded using a Reed Solomon code then a convolutional code;

interleaving the coded bits in a multicarrier communication channel according to a number of coded bits per Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol (N cbps ), wherein the interleaving is performed by:

mapping adjacent coded bits onto non-adjacent subcarriers in the channel; then

mapping adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of a constellation to avoid long runs of low reliability bits, wherein a number of bits used is dependent upon a modulation type;

introducing a guard interval to the interleaved and modulated coded bits to form an OFDM symbol; and

transmitting the OFDM symbol in the multicarrier communication channel from two or more antennas.

16. The article of claim 15 , further including interleaving the coded bits in the multicarrier communication channel using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) interleaving.

17. The article of claim 16 , further including converting the number of bits into complex numbers representing QAM constellation points.

18. The article of claim 17 , wherein the conversion to complex numbers is performed according to Gray coded constellation mappings.

19. The article of claim 15 , further including mapping the adjacent coded bits, each coded bit having a first index (k), onto non-adjacent subcarriers to provide a second index (i) for each coded bit.

20. The article of claim 19 , further including mapping the adjacent coded bits alternately onto less or more significant bits of the constellation to provide a third index (j) for each coded bit.