On differentially encoded star 16QAM with differential detection and diversity

Star 16QAM is a modulation method that transmits 4 bits per symbol and has the advantage that it may be differentially encoded and detected. It is very robust to fast multiplicative Rayleigh fading and is suitable for mobile telephone systems and personal communication networks. The main contribution of this paper is the derivation and bit error probability simulation of the maximum likelihood differential detector using phase differences and amplitude ratios from L diversity branches for bit decisions. As a comparison, much simpler previously known post detection combining techniques are generalized for star 16QAM and optimized. The bit error probability is simulated for both diversity detectors on a multiplicative Rayleigh fading channel with additive white Gaussian noise. It is found that the bit error probability of the ML detector may also be obtained by the simple combining detector. This is also true for the error floor due to maximum Doppler frequency. The diversity gain is almost 8 dB, measured in signal to noise ratio per diversity branch, at a bit error probability of 1 percent. The diversity detector can sustain an almost 3 times larger Doppler frequency again at a bit error probability of 1 percent. We also show that star 16QAM offers, at most, 3 subchannels with different bit error probabilities.