1. A method, comprising: in a multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) transmission system having L layers, selecting a plurality of constellation point candidates for a first layer; and for each other i-th layer of the L layers, selecting a plurality of lists of constellation point candidates with a head of each list being a transmitted signal estimate for a current layer quantized to the constellation, wherein remaining constellation point candidates within each of the lists are presorted according to proximity to the head of the respective list, wherein the transmitted signal estimate for the current layer is derived based on a corresponding set of one or more constellation point candidates for prior layers, and wherein the K candidates for the i-th layer are selected by selecting, among the heads of the selected plurality of lists, one candidate based upon proximity to the corresponding transmitted signal estimate, and advancing remaining candidates in the list from which the selected candidate was chosen toward the head of that list, wherein the selecting and advancing are performed iteratively until K candidates for the i-th layer have been selected.