A new universal random coding bound for the multiple-access channel

The minimum average error probability achievable by block codes on the two-user multiple-access channel is investigated. A new exponential upper bound is found which can be achieved universally for all discrete memoryless multiple-access channels with given input and output alphabets. It is shown that the exponent of this bound is greater than or equal to those of previously known bounds. Moreover, examples are given where the new exponent is strictly larger.