Delay in Cooperative Communications: Achieving Higher Multiplexing Gain in Gaussian Interference Channels With Full-Duplex Transmitters

Abstract

Delay, guaranteeing causality, is inevitable in cooperative communication systems. Traditionally, delay granularity has been limited to one symbol; however, channel delay is in fact governed by channel memory and can be shorter. For example, the delay requirement in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, captured in the cyclic prefix, is typically much shorter than the symbol itself. This perspective is used to study the two-user Gaussian interference channel with full-duplex transmitters. By superimposing the signal from the other node onto its own signal, each transmitter cancels the interference at its receiver. Among other results, it is proved that under a mild condition, the maximum multiplexing gain of this channel is in fact two, rather than the limit of one, previously shown under the traditional constraint of causal delay. Further, the optimal power allocation among orthogonal sub-carriers, which maximizes the achievable sum-rate, is shown to be a generalization of the well-known water filling. Simulation results are included to demonstrate the improvement in the achievable sum-rate when full-duplex transmitters are used.