Multiuser broadcast erasure channel with feedback - capacity and algorithms

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the capacity of a multiuser broadcast erasure channel with feedback, proposing algorithms that approach capacity under various feedback assumptions and channel conditions, without prior channel knowledge.

Contribution

It introduces a virtual-queue-based coding algorithm for the broadcast erasure channel with feedback, achieving capacity under certain conditions and extending to cases with limited feedback.

Findings

Achieves capacity with instantaneous feedback and known channel statistics.

Asymptotically approaches outer bound with large packet length.

Provides algorithms for scenarios with partial or no feedback knowledge.

Abstract

We consider the $N$-user broadcast erasure channel with $N$ unicast sessions (one for each user) where receiver feedback is regularly sent to the transmitter in the form of ACK/NACK messages. We first provide a generic outer bound to the capacity of this system; we then propose a virtual-queue-based inter-session mixing coding algorithm, determine its rate region and show that it achieves capacity under certain conditions on channel statistics, assuming that instantaneous feedback is known to all users. Removing this assumption results in a rate region that asymptotically differs from the outer bound by 1 bit as $L\to \infty$, where $L$ is the number of bits per packet (packet length). For the case of arbitrary channel statistics, we present a modification of the previous algorithm whose rate region is identical to the outer bound for N=3, when instant feedback is known to all users, and differs from the bound by 1 bit as $L\to \infty$, when the 3 users know only their own ACK. The proposed algorithms do not require any prior knowledge of channel statistics.