Improved upper bound for the capacity of the random-access channel (Q1083424)

In this paper we improve the bound of \textit{V. A. Mikhajlov} and \textit{B. S. Tsybakov} [Probl. Peredachi Inf. 17, No.1, 90-95 (1981; Zbl 0484.94004)] for the capacity of a synchronous random-access channel with a Poisson input and ternary broadcast feedback (from 0.5874 to 0.5789). A major role is played by a random functional \(m_ t\), which we call the ''mortage time''. We show that \(m_ t\leq t\) with probability 1, which t is ordinary time, measured in windows. Addition of \(r(t-m_ t)\) to the objective function of Mikhajlov and Tsybakov, where r is an additional optimization parameter, results in the improved upper bound.