Optimal Sequential Frame Synchronization

We consider the `one-shot frame synchronization problem' where a decoder wants to locate a sync pattern at the output of a channel on the basis of sequential observations. We assume that the sync pattern of length N starts being emitted at a random time within some interval of size A, that characterizes the asynchronism level between the transmitter and the receiver. We show that a sequential decoder can optimally locate the sync pattern, i.e., exactly, without delay, and with probability approaching one as N tends to infinity, if and only if the asynchronism level grows as O(exp(N*k)), with k below the `synchronization threshold,' a constant that admits a simple expression depending on the channel. This constant is the same as the one that characterizes the limit for reliable asynchronous communication, as was recently reported by the authors. If k exceeds the synchronization threshold, any decoder, sequential or non-sequential, locates the sync pattern with an error that tends to one as N tends to infinity. Hence, a sequential decoder can locate a sync pattern as well as the (non-sequential) maximum likelihood decoder that operates on the basis of output sequences of maximum length A+N-1, but with much fewer observations.Comment: 6 page

The Strongly Asynchronous Massive Access Channel

This paper considers a Strongly Asynchronous and Slotted Massive Access Channel (SAS-MAC) where $K_n:=e^{n\nu}$ different users transmit a randomly selected message among $M_n:=e^{nR}$ ones within a strong asynchronous window of length $A_n:=e^{n\alpha}$ blocks, where each block lasts $n$ channel uses. A global probability of error is enforced, ensuring that all the users' identities and messages are correctly identified and decoded. Achievability bounds are derived for the case that different users have similar channels, the case that users' channels can be chosen from a set which has polynomially many elements in the blocklength $n$, and the case with no restriction on the users' channels. A general converse bound on the capacity region and a converse bound on the maximum growth rate of the number of users are derived.Comment: under submissio

Asynchronous Communication: Exact Synchronization, Universality, and Dispersion

Recently, Tchamkerten and coworkers proposed a novel variation of the problem of joint synchronization and error correction. This paper considers a strengthened formulation that requires the decoder to estimate both the message and the location of the codeword exactly. Such a scheme allows for transmitting data bits in the synchronization phase of the communication, thereby improving bandwidth and energy efficiencies. It is shown that the capacity region remains unchanged under the exact synchronization requirement. Furthermore, asynchronous capacity can be achieved by universal (channel independent) codes. Comparisons with earlier results on another (delay compensated) definition of rate are made. The finite blocklength regime is investigated and it is demonstrated that even for moderate blocklengths, it is possible to construct capacity-achieving codes that tolerate exponential level of asynchronism and experience only a rather small loss in rate compared to the perfectly synchronized setting; in particular, the channel dispersion does not suffer any degradation due to asynchronism. For the binary symmetric channel, a translation (coset) of a good linear code is shown to achieve the capacity-synchronization tradeoff.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Center for Science of Information Grant CCF-0939370

Asynchronous Communication: Capacity Bounds and Suboptimality of Training

Several aspects of the problem of asynchronous point-to-point communication without feedback are developed when the source is highly intermittent. In the system model of interest, the codeword is transmitted at a random time within a prescribed window whose length corresponds to the level of asynchronism between the transmitter and the receiver. The decoder operates sequentially and communication rate is defined as the ratio between the message size and the elapsed time between when transmission commences and when the decoder makes a decision. For such systems, general upper and lower bounds on capacity as a function of the level of asynchronism are established, and are shown to coincide in some nontrivial cases. From these bounds, several properties of this asynchronous capacity are derived. In addition, the performance of training-based schemes is investigated. It is shown that such schemes, which implement synchronization and information transmission on separate degrees of freedom in the encoding, cannot achieve the asynchronous capacity in general, and that the penalty is particularly significant in the high-rate regime.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Information Theor