Work

Vector Flows That Compute the Capacity of Discrete Memoryless Channels

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: One of the fundamental problems of information theory, since its foundation by C. Shannon, has been the computation of the capacity of a discrete memoryless channel, a quantity expressing the maximum rate at which information can travel through the channel. In this paper, we investigate the properties of a novel approach to computing the capacity, based on a continuous-time dynamical system. Interestingly, the proposed dynamical system can be regarded as a continuous-time version of the classical Blahut-Arimoto algorithm, and we can prove that the former shares with the latter an exponential rate of convergence if certain conditions are met. Moreover, a circuit design is presented to implement the dynamics, hence enabling analog computation to estimate the capacity.

Source: Entropy

DOI: 10.3390/e27040362

Authors: Guglielmo Beretta, Marcello Pelillo

Institutions: Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Politecnico di Torino, Zhejiang Normal University, European Centre for Living Technology

Language: English

Topic: Error Correcting Code Techniques

Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137

Funders: Politecnico di Torino, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia