Patent ID: 7409006

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a first constituent encoder that is operable to encode a plurality of information bits thereby generating a first plurality of encoded bits; an interleaver that is operable to interleave the plurality of information bits thereby generating a plurality of interleaved bits; a second constituent encoder that is operable to encode the plurality of interleaved bits thereby generating a second plurality of encoded bits; a selector that is operable alternatively to select encoded bits from the first plurality of encoded bits and the second plurality of encoded bits thereby generating a symbol sequence that includes a first symbol that includes at least some encoded bits of the first plurality of encoded bits and a second symbol that includes at least some of the second plurality of encoded bits; and a mapper that is operable to: map the first symbol to a first constellation whose constellation points have a first mapping; and map the second symbol to a second constellation whose constellation points have a second mapping; and wherein: the first constituent encoder encodes using a first code rate during a first time; the second constituent encoder encodes using the first code rate during the first time; the first constituent encoder encodes using a second code rate during a second time; and the second constituent encoder encodes using the second code rate during the second time.