A state-dependent degraded broadcast diamond channel is studied where the
source-to-relays cut is modeled with two noiseless, finite-capacity digital
links with a degraded broadcasting structure, while the relays-to-destination
cut is a general multiple access channel controlled by a random state. It is
assumed that the source has non-causal channel state information and the relays
have no state information. Under this model, first, the capacity is
characterized for the case where the destination has state information, i.e.,
has access to the state sequence. It is demonstrated that in this case, a joint
message and state transmission scheme via binning is optimal. Next, the case
where the destination does not have state information, i.e., the case with
state information at the source only, is considered. For this scenario, lower
and upper bounds on the capacity are derived for the general discrete
memoryless model. Achievable rates are then computed for the case in which the
relays-to-destination cut is affected by an additive Gaussian state. Numerical
results are provided that illuminate the performance advantages that can be
accrued by leveraging non-causal state information at the source.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, Feb. 201