Channel uncertainty effect upon the information capacity of mobile communications channels

This paper analyzes the channel uncertainty which is a fundamental issue for the information theory of time varying mobile communication channels. We use an accumulated common experience to define six axioms related to the non trivial influence of the channel uncertainty to the information capacity of time-varying communication channels. Based on these axioms, we propose the concept of time varying binary symmetric channel (TV-BSC). We show that the TV-BSC is unique as the simplest model that exhibits a non-trivial influence on capacity due to the channel uncertainty. That an influence of the channel uncertainty is captured serves to significantly differentiate the model from other two-state Markov models, especially from the the Gilbert-Elliott model. We use several methods to calculate the information capacity of the TV-BSC. Furthermore, we find accurate approximations for the TV-BSC information capacity, providing better insight into the capacity analysis of more general time varying communication channels.