On the Capacity and the Optimal Sum-Rate of a Class of Dual-Band Interference Channels

We study a class of two-transmitter two-receiver dual-band Gaussian interference channels (GIC) which operates over the conventional microwave and the unconventional millimeter-wave (mm-wave) bands. This study is motivated by future 5G networks where additional spectrum in the mm-wave band complements transmission in the incumbent microwave band. The mm-wave band has a key modeling feature: due to severe path loss and relatively small wavelength, a transmitter must employ highly directional antenna arrays to reach its desired receiver. This feature causes the mm-wave channels to become highly directional, and thus can be used by a transmitter to transmit to its designated receiver or the other receiver. We consider two classes of such channels, where the underlying GIC in the microwave band has weak and strong interference, and obtain sufficient channel conditions under which the capacity is characterized. Moreover, we assess the impact of the additional mm-wave band spectrum on the performance, by characterizing the transmit power allocation for the direct and cross channels that maximizes the sum-rate of this dual-band channel. The solution reveals conditions under which different power allocations, such as allocating the power budget only to direct or only to cross channels, or sharing it among them, becomes optimal.