64 QAM versus lower order modulation

1. Is higher QAM better?
2. What is 64-QAM modulation?
3. What is the difference between 64-QAM and 256-QAM?
4. What is modulation order in QAM?

Is higher QAM better?

Put simply, higher QAM levels increase throughput capabilities in wireless devices. By varying the amplitude of the signal as well as the phase, Wi-Fi radios are able to construct the following constellation diagram that shows the values associated with the different states for a 16 QAM signal.

What is 64-QAM modulation?

Sixty-four QAM is a higher order modulation technique, which allows one single radio wave to represent six bits of data by manipulating the amplitude and phase of the radio wave into one of 64 different discrete and measurable states.

What is the difference between 64-QAM and 256-QAM?

As the number of symbols increases, more data bits are transmitted per symbol. For example, 64-QAM is a QAM scheme with 64 symbols, and 256-QAM is a scheme with 256 symbols. 256-QAM conveys 8 bits per symbol (as 256 = 2⁸), so achieving twice the data rate of 16-QAM for the same symbol rate.

What is modulation order in QAM?

Modulations which have an order of 4 and above usually are termed as higher-order modulations. Examples of these are quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and its generalisation as m-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (m-QAM).