Information-theoretic capacity of multi-receiver networks

We consider multi-receiver networks with diversity reception from an information-theoretic point of view. In particular, we find their capacity and investigate how the frequency spectrum should be allocated to the users. We conclude that efficient transmission schemes cannot be built based on reuse partitioning and therefore advocate a spread spectrum approach. We also show that differences in received power levels can be exploited to advantage in multi-access coding and suggest that diversity reception should play an important role. Finally, we consider a sequence of random networks (to include mobility and fading) and show that a notion of network capacity emerges as a law of large numbers.