A Serial Localization with Indecision, "SLIC", receiver configured to demodulate a received symbol vector conveyed in a received signal, said SLIC receiver comprising: a set of two or more serial stages, wherein each stage (36-1, 36- L) is configured to output at least one stage decision vector representing a stage-specific demodulation solution for the received symbol vector according to a stage-specific modulation constellation, and each stage except for a last stage (36-L) is configured to propagate to a next stage one or more modified received signals, each modified received signal comprising, if the stage is the first stage, the received signal as modified by the stage to account for a particular one of the one or more stage decision vectors output by the first stage, and otherwise comprising one of the one or more modified received signals propagated from the prior stage as modified by the stage to account for a particular one of the one or more stage decision vectors output by the stage for said one of the one or more modified received signals propagated from the prior stage; and wherein at least one stage in the SLIC receiver is configured to output at least two such stage decision vectors (42-1, 42-2), such that SLIC receiver is configured to produce at least two solution threads (52-1, 52-2), with each such solution thread comprising a different combination of the stage decision vectors taken across the set of two or more serial stages; and wherein said SLIC receiver further comprises a decision processor that is configured to generate two or more candidate symbol vectors (74-1, 74-2) from respective ones of two or more of the solution threads (52-1, 52-2), each such candidate symbol vector representing an overall demodulation solution for the received symbol vector, identify a best one of the candidate symbol vectors, and output the best candidate symbol vector as the overall demodulation solution. a set of two or more serial stages, wherein each stage (36-1, 36- L) is configured to output at least one stage decision vector representing a stage-specific demodulation solution for the received symbol vector according to a stage-specific modulation constellation, and each stage except for a last stage (36-L) is configured to propagate to a next stage one or more modified received signals, each modified received signal comprising, if the stage is the first stage, the received signal as modified by the stage to account for a particular one of the one or more stage decision vectors output by the first stage, and otherwise comprising one of the one or more modified received signals propagated from the prior stage as modified by the stage to account for a particular one of the one or more stage decision vectors output by the stage for said one of the one or more modified received signals propagated from the prior stage; and wherein at least one stage in the SLIC receiver is configured to output at least two such stage decision vectors (42-1, 42-2), such that SLIC receiver is configured to produce at least two solution threads (52-1, 52-2), with each such solution thread comprising a different combination of the stage decision vectors taken across the set of two or more serial stages; and wherein said SLIC receiver further comprises a decision processor that is configured to generate two or more candidate symbol vectors (74-1, 74-2) from respective ones of two or more of the solution threads (52-1, 52-2), each such candidate symbol vector representing an overall demodulation solution for the received symbol vector, identify a best one of the candidate symbol vectors, and output the best candidate symbol vector as the overall demodulation solution.