Power control for fading cooperative multiple access channels

For a fading Gaussian multiple access channel with user cooperation, we obtain the power allocation policies that maximize the average rates achievable by block Markov superposition coding, subject to average power constraints. The optimal policies result in a coding scheme that is simpler than the one for a general multiple access channel with generalized feedback. This simpler coding scheme also leads to the possibility of formulating an otherwise non-concave optimization problem as a concave one. Using the perfect channel state information available at the transmitters to adapt the powers, we demonstrate gains over the achievable rates for existing cooperative systems.