Abstract: A trellis shaper for multi-channel modulation is provided as a means for obtaining significant shaping gain in applications requiring high-performance transceivers. The trellis shaper works across the subchannels in the multi-channel system and accommodates both the variable amounts of power and the different constellation sizes associated with the various tones. This invention offers significant advantage over the more straightforward approach of shaping each subchannel independently in terms of a reduction in delay, a reduction in memory requirements, and a reduction in complexity.