Codeword-Independent Performance of Nonbinary Linear Codes Under Linear-Programming and Sum-Product Decoding

Abstract: A coded modulation system is considered in which nonbinary coded symbols are mapped directly to nonbinary modulation signals. It is proved that if the modulator-channel combination satisfies a particular symmetry condition, the codeword error rate performance is independent of the transmitted codeword. It is shown that this result holds for both linear-programming decoders and sum-product decoders. In particular, this provides a natural modulation mapping for nonbinary codes mapped to PSK constellations for transmission over memoryless channels such as AWGN channels or flat fading channels with AWGN.