On adversarial joint source channel coding

In a joint source-channel coding scheme, a single mapping is used to perform both the tasks of data compression and channel coding in a combined way, rather than performing them separately. Usually for simple iid sources and channels, separation of the tasks is information theoretically optimal. In an adversarial joint source-channel coding scenario, instead of a stochastic channel, an adversary introduces a set of bounded number of errors/erasures. It has been shown recently that, even in the simplest cases of such adversarial models, separation is suboptimal and characterizing the fundamental limits is difficult. In this paper, we study several properties of such adversarial joint source-channel schemes. We show optimality of separation in some situations, provide simple joint schemes that beat separation in others, and give new bounds on the rate of such coding.