On combined equalization and decoding of multilevel coded modulation

This paper describes an approach to combining multilevel block coded modulation with decision feedback equalization. We show that this approach has better performance than independent equalization and soft-decision decoding. The proposed structure uses a simple iterative scheme to decode and equalize multilevel block coded modulation based on decision feedback. The system performance is evaluated via computer simulation. We show that the combined decoding and equalization scheme gives a performance gain of up to 0.9 dB at a bit error rate of 10^-4 over conventional, concatenated equalization and decoding