Source-Channel Coding for the Multiple-Access Relay Channel

TL;DR

This paper investigates reliable transmission of correlated sources over multiple-access relay channels with side information, establishing conditions for optimality and separation strategies in various scenarios.

Contribution

It provides new sufficient and necessary conditions for reliable communication over MARCs and MABRCs, including cases where separation is optimal.

Findings

Operational separation is sufficient for reliable transmission.

Necessary conditions on source-channel rates are derived.

Separation is optimal for fading Gaussian MARCs and MABRCs.

Abstract

This work considers reliable transmission of general correlated sources over the multiple-access relay channel (MARC) and the multiple-access broadcast relay channel (MABRC). In MARCs only the destination is interested in a reconstruction of the sources, while in MABRCs both the relay and the destination want to reconstruct the sources. We assume that both the relay and the destination have correlated side information. We find sufficient conditions for reliable communication based on operational separation, as well as necessary conditions on the achievable source-channel rate. For correlated sources transmitted over fading Gaussian MARCs and MABRCs we find conditions under which informational separation is optimal.