The Approximate Capacity Region of the Gaussian Z-Interference Channel with Conferencing Encoders

A two-user Gaussian Z-Interference Channel (GZIC) is considered, in which encoders are connected through noiseless links with finite capacities. In this setting, prior to each transmission block the encoders communicate with each other over the cooperative links. The capacity region and the sum-capacity of the channel are characterized within 1.71 bits per user and 2 bits in total, respectively. It is also established that properly sharing the total limited cooperation capacity between the cooperative links may enhance the achievable region, even when compared to the case of unidirectional transmitter cooperation with infinite cooperation capacity. To obtain the results, genie-aided upper bounds on the sum-capacity and cut-set bounds on the individual rates are compared with the achievable rate region. In the interference-limited regime, the achievable scheme enjoys a simple type of Han-Kobayashi signaling, together with the zero-forcing, and basic relaying techniques. In the noise-limited regime, it is shown that treating interference as noise achieves the capacity region up to a single bit per user.