  Optimal binary labelings, input distributions, and input alphabets are
analyzed for the so-called bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) capacity,
paying special attention to the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. For
8-ary pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) and for 0.75 bit/symbol, the folded
binary code results in a higher capacity than the binary reflected gray code
(BRGC) and the natural binary code (NBC). The 1 dB gap between the additive
white Gaussian noise (AWGN) capacity and the BICM capacity with the BRGC can be
almost completely removed if the input symbol distribution is properly
selected. First-order asymptotics of the BICM capacity for arbitrary input
alphabets and distributions, dimensions, mean, variance, and binary labeling
are developed. These asymptotics are used to define first-order optimal (FOO)
constellations for BICM, i.e. constellations that make BICM achieve the Shannon
limit $-1.59 \tr{dB}$. It is shown that the $\Eb/N_0$ required for reliable
transmission at asymptotically low rates in BICM can be as high as infinity,
that for uniform input distributions and 8-PAM there are only 72 classes of
binary labelings with a different first-order asymptotic behavior, and that
this number is reduced to only 26 for 8-ary phase shift keying (PSK). A general
answer to the question of FOO constellations for BICM is also given: using the
Hadamard transform, it is found that for uniform input distributions, a
constellation for BICM is FOO if and only if it is a linear projection of a
hypercube. A constellation based on PAM or quadrature amplitude modulation
input alphabets is FOO if and only if they are labeled by the NBC; if the
constellation is based on PSK input alphabets instead, it can never be FOO if
the input alphabet has more than four points, regardless of the labeling.
