Channels With Cooperation Links That May Be Absent

It is well known that cooperation between users in a communication network can lead to significant performance gains. A common assumption in past works is that all the users are aware of the resources available for cooperation, and know exactly to what extent these resources can be used. Unfortunately, in many modern communication networks, the availability of cooperation links cannot be guaranteed a priori, due to the dynamic nature of the network. In this paper, a family of models is suggested where the cooperation links may or may not be present. Coding schemes are devised that exploit the cooperation links if they are present, and can still operate (although at reduced rates) if cooperation is not possible.