Performance of space time block coded bit interleaved coded modulation systems for mobile communication channels

In this thesis concatenated systems involving bit interleaved coded modulation (BICM) and space time codes (STC) are inspected in detail. Space time block codes (STBCs) are used while forming the joint structures. Performance of the joint structures involving BICM and STCs for additive white Gaussian and mobile fading channels are measured via computer simulations. Iterative decoding logic is applied for the decoding of these joint structures. An alternative feedback path for the iterative decoding of BICM-STBC joint structures is proposed and simulation results showed that the proposed path result in better bit error rate performance. Concatenated BICM-STBCs are also used in cooperative communication structures. A signal combination method based on the linear combination of the signal probabilities coming from the relays is proposed and it is seen that proper choosing of the coefficients for the linear combination of the probabilities is an important criteria for the performance of the cooperated systems.