Patent ID: 8351788

Claim:
A method for encoding a label in a quaternary phase shift keying signal comprising: combining, by an encoder, a label frame comprising a binary encoding of the label, a binary signature sequence for code-division multiple access, and a first binary data payload into a first composite data stream; deinterleaving the first composite data stream into a first data stream and a second data stream; and differentially precoding the first data stream and the second data stream to output a respective first quaternary phase shift keying tributary and a second quaternary phase shift keying tributary, wherein the quaternary phase shift keying signal is a dual polarization quaternary phase shift keying signal, and the first quaternary phase shift keying tributary and the second quaternary phase shift keying tributary are a respective first tributary and a second tributary of a first polarization of the dual polarization quaternary phase shift keying signal; combining the label frame, the binary signature sequence, and a second binary data payload into a second composite data stream; deinterleaving the second composite data stream into a third data stream and a fourth data stream; and differentially precoding the third data stream and the fourth data stream to output a respective first quaternary phase shift keying tributary and a second quaternary phase shift keying tributary of a second polarization of the dual polarization quaternary phase shift keying signal.