Construction C*: an inter-level coded version of Construction C

Abstract: Besides all the attention given to lattice constructions, it is common to find some very interesting nonlattice constellations, as Construction C, for example, which also has relevant applications in communication problems (multi-level coding, multi-stage decoding, good quantization efficieny). In this work we present a constellation which is a subset of Construction C, based on inter-level coding, which we call Construction C*. This construction may have better immunity to noise and it also provides a simple way of describing the Leech lattice $\Lambda_{24}.$ A condition under which Construction C* is a lattice constellation is given.