We study the capacity of the discrete-time Gaussian channel when its output is quantized with a 1-bit quantizer. We focus on the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime, where communication at very low spectral efficiencies takes place. In this regime, a symmetric threshold quantizer is known to reduce channel capacity by a factor of 2/π, i.e., to cause an asymptotic power loss of approximately 2 dB. Here, it is shown that this power loss can be avoided by using asymmetric threshold quantizers and asymmetric signaling constellations. To avoid this power loss, flash-signaling input distributions are essential. Consequently, 1-bit output quantization of the Gaussian channel reduces spectral efficiency. Threshold quantizers are not only asymptotically optimal: at every fixed SNR, a threshold quantizer maximizes capacity among all 1-bit output quantizers. The picture changes on the Rayleigh-fading channel. In the noncoherent case, a 1-bit output quantizer causes an unavoidable low-SNR asymptotic power loss. In the coherent case, however, this power loss is avoidable provided that we allow the quantizer to depend on the fading level.

We derive the capacity region of the Gaussian version of Willemspsilas two-user MAC with conferencing encoders. This setting differs from the classical MAC in that, prior to each transmission block, the two transmitters can communicate with each other over noise-free bit-pipes of given capacities. The derivation requires a new technique for proving the optimality of Gaussian input distributions in certain mutual information maximizations under a Markov constraint. We also consider a Costa-type extension of the Gaussian MAC with conferencing encoders. In this extension, the channel can be described as a two-user MAC with Gaussian noise and Gaussian interference where the interference is known non-causally to the encoders but not to the decoder. We show that as in Costa's setting the interference sequence can be perfectly canceled, i.e., that the capacity region without interference can be achieved.

Upper and lower bounds are derived on the reliability function of the additive white Gaussian noise channel with output fed back to the transmitter over an independent additive white Gaussian noise channel. Special attention is paid to the regime of very low feedback noise variance and it is shown that the reliability function is asymptotically inversely proportional to the feedback noise variance. This result shows that the noise in the feedback link, however small, renders the communication with noisy feedback fundamentally different from the perfect feedback case. For example, it is demonstrated that with noisy feedback, linear coding schemes fail to achieve any positive rate. In contrast, an asymptotically optimal coding scheme is devised, based on a three-phase detection/retransmission protocol, which achieves an error exponent inversely proportional to the feedback noise variance for any rate less than capacity.

Two families of dependence measures between random variables are introduced. They are based on the Rényi divergence of order $\alpha$ and the relative $\alpha$ -entropy, respectively, and both dependence measures reduce to Shannon’s mutual information when their order $\alpha$ is one. The first measure shares many properties with the mutual information, including the data-processing inequality, and can be related to the optimal error exponents in composite hypothesis testing. The second measure does not satisfy the data-processing inequality, but appears naturally in the context of distributed task encoding.

We consider a problem where a memoryless bi-variate Gaussian source is to be transmitted over an additive white Gaussian multiple-access channel with two transmitting terminals and one receiving terminal. The first transmitter only sees the first source component and the second transmitter only sees the second source component. We are interested in the pair of mean squared-error distortions at which the receiving terminal can reproduce each of the source components. It is demonstrated that in the symmetric case, below a certain signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, which is determined by the source correlation, uncoded communication is optimal. For SNRs above this threshold we present outer and inner bounds on the achievable distortions

We derive the capacity region of the two-user dirty-paper Gaussian multiaccess channel (MAC) with conferencing encoders. In this MAC, prior to each transmission block, the transmitters can hold a conference in which they can communicate with each other over error-free bit pipes of given capacities. The received signal suffers not only from additive Gaussian noise but also from additive interference, which is known noncausally to the transmitters but not to the receiver. The additive interference is modeled as Gaussian or uniform over a sphere. We show that the interference can be perfectly mitigated, i.e., that the capacity region without interference can also be achieved in its presence. This holds irrespective of whether the transmitters learn the interference before or after the conference. It follows as a corollary that also for the MAC with degraded message sets, the interference can be perfectly mitigated if it is known noncausally to the transmitters. To derive our results, we generalize Costa's single-user writing-on-dirty-paper achievability result to channels with dependent interference and not-necessarily Gaussian noise.