Abstract
Abstract Super‐orthogonal space–time trellis codes (SOSTTC) are full rate, full diversity space–time codes with high coding gains for quasi‐static fading channels. In this paper, this design approach is extended to fast fading channels and new SOSTTC are proposed for BPSK and QPSK modulations based on the design criteria valid for this type of channels. The new full rate codes have 4‐ and 16‐state trellises for BPSK and QPSK cases, respectively, to avoid parallel transitions which restrict the error performance. The frame error performances are evaluated through computer simulations and it is shown that the proposed codes have superior performance in the fast fading case compared to their counterparts previously given in the literature for fast and quasi‐static fading channels. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.