Rate Splitting and Successive Decoding for Gaussian Interference Channels

Abstract

Most coding schemes proposed for the interference channel take advantage of joint decoding to enlarge rate region. However, decoding complexity escalates considerably when joint decoding is used. This paper studies the achievable sum-rate of the two-user Gaussian interference channel when joint decoding is replaced by successive decoding. First, the strong interference class is examined, and it is proved that if transmitters’ powers satisfy certain conditions, successive decoding is optimal and achieves the sum-capacity. The number of the required splits, the amount of power allocated to each split, and the order of decoding at receivers are explicitly determined. Second, the weak interference class is examined. A novel rate-splitting scheme is proposed that does not use joint decoding. The number of required splits and the amount of power allocated to each split are expressed in closed forms. It is shown that, for a wide range of transmitters’ powers, this scheme achieves the sum-rate of the Gaussian Han-Kobayashi scheme. Moreover, it is proved that the difference between the sum-rate of this scheme and that of the Gaussian Han-Kobayashi scheme is bounded, for all values of transmitters’ powers.