Multiuser transmit optimization for multicarrier broadcast channels: Asymptotic FDMA capacity region and algorithms

We derive optimal and suboptimal multiuser transmit-optimization methods for a multicarrier broadcast channel with intersymbol interference under the frequency-division multiple-access (FDMA) restriction. The general FDMA-based multicarrier broadcast problem is formulated as a maximum weighted rate-sum problem. Given each user's subchannel assignment, the optimal transmit strategy is achieved by multilevel waterfilling. Unfortunately, the problem of finding the optimal subchannel assignments is combinatorial. However, by relaxing the FDMA restriction, we obtain a convex reformulation that allows for efficient computation of the optimal solution, and therefore, a characterization of the FDMA capacity region for a broadcast channel. If all users share the same transmission medium, we prove that the optimal frequency partitioning among the users has an ordered structure that can be exploited to significantly reduce the computational complexity. To make multiuser transmit-optimization schemes practical for applications with relatively fast time-varying user data-rate requirements or priorities, further reduction in computational complexity is necessary. This is achieved by restricting the energy distribution to be constant across the used subchannels. Simulations indicate the low-complexity constant-energy methods presented are very robust, and suffer from negligible performance loss.