Asymptotic Detection Performance of Type-Based Multiple Access Over Multiaccess Fading Channels

The problem of communicating sensor readings over a multiaccess channel for detecting a target using type-based multiple access (TBMA) is considered. TBMA is analyzed in a general framework by considering non-i.i.d. data and nonidentical channel gains. An asymptotically optimal detector is proposed and its error-exponents for detection probabilities are characterized using tools from large deviations theory (LDT). In case of i.i.d. channel gains, it is shown that the performance of TBMA presents two distinct behaviors depending on whether the channel gains have zero mean. Numerical simulations are used to demonstrate that the error exponents provide reasonably accurate estimates of the performance of TBMA.