Optimization of Information Rate Upper and Lower Bounds for Channels with Memory

We consider the problem of minimizing upper bounds and maximizing lower bounds on information rates of stationary and ergodic discrete-time channels with memory. The channels we consider can have a finite number of states, such as partial response channels, or they can have an infinite state-space, such as time-varying fading channels. We optimize recently-proposed information rate bounds for such channels, which make use of auxiliary finite-state machine channels (FSMCs). Our main contribution in this paper is to provide iterative expectation-maximization (EM) type algorithms to optimize the parameters of the auxiliary FSMC to tighten these bounds. We provide an explicit, iterative algorithm that improves the upper bound at each iteration. We also provide an effective method for iteratively optimizing the lower bound. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithms, we provide several examples of partial response and fading channels, where the proposed optimization techniques significantly tighten the initial upper and lower bounds. Finally, we compare our results with an improved variation of the \emph{simplex} local optimization algorithm, called \emph{Soblex}. This comparison shows that our proposed algorithms are superior to the Soblex method, both in terms of robustness in finding the tightest bounds and in computational efficiency. Interestingly, from a channel coding/decoding perspective, optimizing the lower bound is related to increasing the achievable mismatched information rate, i.e., the information rate of a communication system where the decoder at the receiver is matched to the auxiliary channel, and not to the original channel.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, November 24, 200

Joint Source-Channel Coding over a Fading Multiple Access Channel with Partial Channel State Information

In this paper we address the problem of transmission of correlated sources over a fast fading multiple access channel (MAC) with partial channel state information available at both the encoders and the decoder. We provide sufficient conditions for transmission with given distortions. Next these conditions are specialized to a Gaussian MAC (GMAC). We provide the optimal power allocation strategy and compare the strategy with various levels of channel state information. Keywords: Fading MAC, Power allocation, Partial channel state information, Correlated sources.Comment: 7 Pages, 3 figures. To Appear in IEEE GLOBECOM, 200

Vector Broadcast Channels: Optimal Threshold Selection Problem

Threshold feedback policies are well known and provably rate-wise optimal selective feedback techniques for communication systems requiring partial channel state information (CSI). However, optimal selection of thresholds at mobile users to maximize information theoretic data rates subject to feedback constraints is an open problem. In this paper, we focus on the optimal threshold selection problem, and provide a solution for this problem for finite feedback systems. Rather surprisingly, we show that using the same threshold values at all mobile users is not always a rate-wise optimal feedback strategy, even for a system with identical users experiencing statistically the same channel conditions. By utilizing the theory of majorization, we identify an underlying Schur-concave structure in the rate function and obtain sufficient conditions for a homogenous threshold feedback policy to be optimal. Our results hold for most fading channel models, and we illustrate an application of our results to familiar Rayleigh fading channels.Comment: Submitted to IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug 201

Using Channel Output Feedback to Increase Throughput in Hybrid-ARQ

Hybrid-ARQ protocols have become common in many packet transmission systems due to their incorporation in various standards. Hybrid-ARQ combines the normal automatic repeat request (ARQ) method with error correction codes to increase reliability and throughput. In this paper, we look at improving upon this performance using feedback information from the receiver, in particular, using a powerful forward error correction (FEC) code in conjunction with a proposed linear feedback code for the Rayleigh block fading channels. The new hybrid-ARQ scheme is initially developed for full received packet feedback in a point-to-point link. It is then extended to various different multiple-antenna scenarios (MISO/MIMO) with varying amounts of packet feedback information. Simulations illustrate gains in throughput.Comment: 30 page

Reinforcement-based data transmission in temporally-correlated fading channels: Partial CSIT scenario

Reinforcement algorithms refer to the schemes where the results of the previous trials and a reward-punishment rule are used for parameter setting in the next steps. In this paper, we use the concept of reinforcement algorithms to develop different data transmission models in wireless networks. Considering temporally-correlated fading channels, the results are presented for the cases with partial channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). As demonstrated, the implementation of reinforcement algorithms improves the performance of communication setups remarkably, with the same feedback load/complexity as in the state-of-the-art schemes.Comment: Accepted for publication in ISWCS 201

On Capacity and Optimal Scheduling for the Half-Duplex Multiple-Relay Channel

We study the half-duplex multiple-relay channel (HD-MRC) where every node can either transmit or listen but cannot do both at the same time. We obtain a capacity upper bound based on a max-flow min-cut argument and achievable transmission rates based on the decode-forward (DF) coding strategy, for both the discrete memoryless HD-MRC and the phase-fading HD-MRC. We discover that both the upper bound and the achievable rates are functions of the transmit/listen state (a description of which nodes transmit and which receive). More precisely, they are functions of the time fraction of the different states, which we term a schedule. We formulate the optimal scheduling problem to find an optimal schedule that maximizes the DF rate. The optimal scheduling problem turns out to be a maximin optimization, for which we propose an algorithmic solution. We demonstrate our approach on a four-node multiple-relay channel, obtaining closed-form solutions in certain scenarios. Furthermore, we show that for the received signal-to-noise ratio degraded phase-fading HD-MRC, the optimal scheduling problem can be simplified to a max optimization.Comment: Author's final version (to appear in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory