Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A UE may use different modulation schemes, or different modulators, for a single data stream. The set of modulators may be based on a linear combination of a function of encoded bits to be transmitted. In some cases, the UE may use a different permutation or interleaving of the function of bits with the same linear function to generate a different set of modulators. The UE may use a combination of any one or more of the described techniques for generating a set of modulators. Different modulators may be cyclically repeated over time. The UE may apply a device-specific scrambling sequence and transmit the modulated symbols on an uplink channel. The base station may use matched filters and an element-wise estimator (ESE) to compute log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) for each bit of each UE in a received signal.