Exploiting multiuser diversity with only 1-bit feedback

Abstract

In a system with n users, the sum-rate capacity of the downlink channel grows as log log n, assuming optimal scheduling. However, optimal scheduling requires that the downlink channel state information (CSI) for all users be fully available at the base station. We show that the same capacity growth holds even if the feedback rate from the mobiles to the base station is reduced to one bit. We propose a simple scheduling method to achieve this multiuser capacity and, furthermore, we show that, by a judicious choice of the one-bit quantizer, not only the growth rate, but also most of the capacity of a fully informed system can be preserved.