Distributed Coding in A Multiple Access Environment

Abstract

With the fast expansion of communication networks and the increasing dynamic of wireless communication activities, a significant proportion of messages in wireless networks are being transmitted using distributed protocols that feature opportunistic channel access without full user coordination. This challenges the basic assumption of long message transmissions among coordinated users in classical channel coding theory. In this monograph, we introduce channel coding theorems for the distributed communication model where users choose their channel codes individually. We show that, although reliable message recovery is not always guaranteed in distributed communication systems, the notion of fundamental limit still exists, and can indeed be viewed as an extension to its classical correspondence. Due to historical priority of developing wireline networks, network architectures tend to achieve system modularity by compromising communication and energy efficiency. Such a