Optimal DoF Region of the Two-User MISO-BC with General Alternating CSIT

Abstract: In the setting of the time-selective two-user multiple-input single-output (MISO) broadcast channel (BC), recent work by Tandon et al. considered the case where - in the presence of error-free delayed channel state information at the transmitter (delayed CSIT) - the current CSIT for the channel of user 1 and of user 2, alternate between the two extreme states of perfect current CSIT and of no current CSIT. Motivated by the problem of having limited-capacity feedback links which may not allow for perfect CSIT, as well as by the need to utilize any available partial CSIT, we here deviate from this all-or-nothing' approach and proceed - again in the presence of error-free delayed CSIT - to consider the general setting where current CSIT now alternates between any two qualities. Specifically for $I_1$ and $I_2$ denoting the high-SNR asymptotic rates-of-decay of the mean-square error of the CSIT estimates for the channel of user~1 and of user~2 respectively, we consider the case where $I_1,I_2 \in\{\gamma,\alpha\}$ for any two positive current-CSIT quality exponents $\gamma,\alpha$. In a fast-fading setting where we consider communication over any number of coherence periods, and where each CSIT state $I_1I_2$ is present for a fraction $\lambda_{I_1I_2}$ of this total duration, we focus on the symmetric case of $\lambda_{\alpha\gamma}=\lambda_{\gamma\alpha}$, and derive the optimal degrees-of-freedom (DoF) region. The result, which is supported by novel communication protocols, naturally incorporates the aforementionedPerfect current' vs. `No current' setting by limiting $I_1,I_2\in{0,1}$. Finally, motivated by recent interest in frequency correlated channels with unmatched CSIT, we also analyze the setting where there is no delayed CSIT.