Abstract: The amount of co-channel interference which occurs for any given time slot in a cellular communication system can be reduced by distributing or averaging out the co-channel interference to other time slots. This averaging out results from the staggering of control and traffic signals for a given time slot wherein the staggering is relative to the same time slot in the same frequency channel at neighboring clusters of cells. If a transmitter is on a satellite which transmits to the various clusters, the method and apparatus prevents an interfering signal from interfering with the entire time slot. The inventive method and apparatus requires synchronization of the control and traffic signal transmission to the clusters relative to each other so that the amount of delay introduced while staggering the time slots can be predicted and controlled.

Abstract: A coding system for error protecting both insignificant and significant symbols of a digital message to be transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver of a digital system. Error protection for both insignificant and significant symbols is provided by coding at the transmitter both significant and insignificant symbols of message blocks forming the digital message. The symbol rate of the coded signal to be transmitted is reduced and unequal error protection is provided to the significant symbols by puncturing a selected number of insignificant symbols of each codeword of the coded signal. At the receiver, a correction determination is made for each received codeword as to whether the erasures and errors of the received codeword are correctable. The correction determination is a function of the number of errors, number of erasures, and the minimum distance of the code. Based on this correction determination, the received codeword is depunctured and decoded.