Patent ID: 7469019

Claim:
A system for transmitting a layered modulation signal characterized by a carrier to noise ratio (CNR) having an upper layer signal and a lower layer signal, wherein a power of the upper layer signal is separated from a power of the lower layer signal by a power separation S, the system defined by performing the steps of: defining the system in terms of a set of system parameters, including an optimal power separation S between a power of a first modulation layer and a power of a second modulation layer and a required system carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR s ); determining an optimal power separation S to minimize an error rate of the lower layer signal (BER L ); and selecting remaining system parameters in the set of system parameters using the determined optimal power separation S, comprising the steps of: determining a required CNR for the upper layer (CNR U ) and a required CNR for the lower layer (CNR L ) from a relationship between an upper layer coding rate (C UL ) and CNR U , and a lower level coding rate (C LL ) and CNR L ; and determining the required system CNR (CNR s ) from CNR U , CNR L , and S.