Binary multilevel coset codes based on Reed-Muller codes

We study the construction and decoding of binary multilevel coset codes. This construction, originally introduced by Blokh and Zyablov in 1974 and by Zinov´ev in 1976, shows remarkable analogies with most recent schemes of coded modulations. Basic elements of the construction are an inner code, head of a partition chain having suitable distance properties, and a set of outer codes, generally nonbinary. For each partition level there is an outer code whose alphabet has the same order of the partition: in this way it is possible to associate every partition subset to a code symbol. It is well known that these codes can be efficiently decoded by the so called “multistage decoding.” We show that good codes (in terms of performance/complexity) can be constructed using Reed-Muller (RM) codes as inner codes. To this aim RM codes are revisited in the framework of the above construction and decoding techniques. In particular we describe a family of decoders for RM codes which include Forney´s (1988) and Hemmati´s (1989) decoders as special cases. Finally, we present some examples of efficient binary codes based on RM codes, and assess their performance via computer simulation