The Asymptotic Generalized Poor-Verdu Bound Achieves the BSC Error Exponent at Zero Rate

Abstract: The generalized Poor-Verdu error lower bound for multihypothesis testing is revisited. Its asymptotic expression is established in closed-form as its tilting parameter grows to infinity. It is also shown that the asymptotic generalized bound achieves the error exponent (or reliability function) of the memoryless binary symmetric channel at zero coding rates.