A Shannon-Theoretic Approach to the Storage-Retrieval Tradeoff in PIR Systems

Abstract: We consider the storage-retrieval rate tradeoff in private information retrieval (PIR) systems using a Shannon-theoretic approach. Our focus is mostly on the canonical two-message two-database case, for which a coding scheme based on random codebook generation and the binning technique is proposed. This coding scheme reveals a hidden connection between PIR and the classic multiple description source coding problem. We first show that when the retrieval rate is kept optimal, the proposed non-linear scheme can achieve better performance over any linear scheme. Moreover, a non-trivial storage-retrieval rate tradeoff can be achieved beyond space-sharing between this extreme point and the other optimal extreme point, achieved by the retrieve-everything strategy. We further show that with a method akin to the expurgation technique, one can extract a zero-error PIR code from the random code. Outer bounds are also studied and compared to establish the superiority of the non-linear codes over linear codes.