Common Rate Maximization in Cooperative Multiple Access Channels

In this paper, we study the optimal power allocations in cooperative multiple access channels (CMACs), where we aim at maximizing the rate achievable by both sources simultaneously rather than the sum of achievable rates. Separating our study between the coherent and non-coherent case, we obtain closed-form expressions for the optimal power allocations w.r.t. the outer bounds of the capacity region, as well as decode-and-forward and non-cooperative inner bounds. We point out during our resolution that the general CMAC model behaves as a multiple access relay channel (MARC), where a "virtual" relay node is introduced to represent the cooperation between the sources. This equivalent model simplifies the original power allocation problem. We finally show that the general cut-set outer bound on the capacity region of the equivalent MARC matches exactly the tightest known outer bound on the capacity region of the original CMAC.