Switched Feedback for the Multiple-Access Channel

TL;DR

This paper introduces switched feedback in multiple-access channels, analyzing its impact on capacity and exploring the tradeoffs between cooperation and transmission under different feedback reliability scenarios.

Contribution

It presents new bounds on the capacity region of MACs with switched feedback, a novel feedback mechanism that switches between forward and backward channels.

Findings

Derived upper and lower bounds on capacity

Demonstrated benefits of switched feedback in capacity enhancement

Explored tradeoffs between cooperation and transmission

Abstract

A mechanism called switched feedback is introduced; under switched feedback, each channel output goes forward to the receiver(s) or back to the transmitter(s) but never both. By studying the capacity of the Multiple-Access Channel (MAC) with switched feedback, this work investigates the benefits of feedback, seeking to maximize that benefit under reliable and unreliable feedback scenarios. The study is used to explore the tradeoffs between cooperation and transmission in the context of communication systems. Results include upper and lower bounds on the capacity region of the MAC with switched feedback.