CAREER: Wireless network simplification: using the necessary and no more

目标：该项目的目标是开发一个基本框架，通过提取可证明保留整个容量的很大一部分的小型子网络来简化无线网络。信息论的最新研究结果表明，大量无线设备的最佳协作可以获得较大的容量增益。然而，在实践中，优化操作许多分布式设备是出了名的困难，目前的合作技术仅限于使用少量继电器和次优策略。通过更好地理解不同中继传输的信号之间的内在相关性，大多数网络可以大大简化，该项目旨在弥合这一分歧。它建立了一个信息论的理解，为什么，如何以及通过多少来简化无线网络，并开发了有效的简化算法和低复杂性的代码，大致实现容量。知识价值：该项目的知识价值在于它对当今研究无线网络的方式进行了变革。它不是专注于单个数字，即网络容量，而是阐明了信息如何通过无线网络传播，揭示了单个中继的意义。该研究探索了组合优化的丰富联系集。更广泛的影响：该项目的总体目标是通过网络简化消除复杂性障碍，弥合当前无线中继网络理论与实践之间的巨大脱节。该项目旨在改变继电器目前在实践中完成的方式，允许显着更高的速率和更小的能耗。

Objective: The objective of this project is to develop a fundamental framework for simplifying wireless networks by extracting small sub-networks that provably preserve a large fraction of the entire capacity. Recent results in information theory show that optimal cooperation of a large number of wireless devices can achieve large gains in capacity. In practice, however, optimally operating many distributed devices is notoriously difficult and current cooperative techniques are limited to the use of few relays and suboptimal strategies. This project aims to bridge this divide by building on the observation that most networks can be greatly simplified through a better understanding of the inherent correlations between signals carried by different relays. It builds an information-theoretic understanding of why, how and by how much to simplify wireless networks and develops efficient simplification algorithms and low-complexity codes that approximately achieve capacity. Intellectual merit: The intellectual merit of the project lies in its transformative approach to the way wireless networks are studied today. Instead of focusing on a single number, the network capacity, it clarifies how information propagates through a wireless network, revealing the significance of individual relays. The study explores the rich set of connections to combinatorial optimization.Broader impacts: The broad goal of the project is to bridge the large disconnect between the current theory and practice of wireless relay networks by removing the complexity barrier via network simplification. The project aims to transform the way relaying is currently done in practice, allowing for significantly higher rates and smaller energy consumption.