Title :
Information flow decomposition for network coding
Author :
Fragouli, Christina ; Soljanin, Emina
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Comput. & Commun. Sci., EPFL, Lausanne
fDate :
3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We propose a method to identify structural properties of multicast network configurations, by decomposing networks into regions through which the same information flows. This decomposition allows us to show that very different networks are equivalent from a coding point of view, and offers a means to identify such equivalence classes. It also allows us to divide the network coding problem into two almost independent tasks: one of graph theory and the other of classical channel coding theory. This approach to network coding enables us to derive the smallest code alphabet size sufficient to code any network configuration with two sources as a function of the number of receivers in the network. But perhaps the most significant strength of our approach concerns future network coding practice. Namely, we propose deterministic algorithms to specify the coding operations at network nodes without the knowledge of the overall network topology. Such decentralized designs facilitate the construction of codes that can easily accommodate future changes in the network, e.g., addition of receivers and loss of links
Keywords :
channel coding; deterministic algorithms; graph theory; multicast communication; receivers; telecommunication network topology; channel coding theory; decentralized design; deterministic algorithm; graph theory; information flow decomposition; multicast network configuration; network coding problem; network topology; receiver; Channel coding; Communication networks; Convolutional codes; Fluid flow; Galois fields; Graph theory; Joining processes; Multicast communication; Network coding; Network topology; Arcs; convolutional codes; decentralized codes; information flow; max-flow min-cut theorem; maximum distance separable (MDS) codes; network coding; network multicast;
Journal_Title :
Information Theory, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TIT.2005.864435