Cross-layer communication over fading channels with adaptive decision feedback

In this paper, cross-layer design of transmitting data packets over AWGN fading channel with adaptive decision feedback is considered. The transmitter decides the number of packets to transmit and the threshold of the decision feedback based on the queue length and the channel state. The transmit power is chosen such that the probability of error is below a pre-specified threshold. We model the system as a Markov decision process and use ideas from lattice theory to establish qualitative properties of optimal transmission strategies. In particular, we show that: (i) if the channel state remains the same and the number of packets in the queue increase, then the optimal policy either transmits more packets or uses a smaller decision feedback threshold or both; and (ii) if the number of packets in the queue remain the same and the channel quality deteriorates, then the optimal policy either transmits fewer packets or uses a larger threshold for the decision feedback or both. We also show under rate constraints that if the channel gains for all channel states are above a threshold, then the “or” in the above characterization can be replaced by “and”. Finally, we present a numerical example showing that adaptive decision feedback significantly improves the power-delay trade-off as compared with the case of no feedback. (pdf)

Recommended citation: B. Sayedana, A. Mahajan and E. Yeh, "Cross-layer communication over fading channels with adaptive decision feedback," 2020 18th International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks (WiOPT), Volos, Greece, 2020, pp. 1-8. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9155327