Channel Resolvability Theorems for General Sources and Channels

Abstract: In the problem of channel resolvability, where a given output probability distribution via a channel is approximated by transforming the uniform random numbers, characterizing the asymptotically minimum rate of the size of the random numbers, called the channel resolvability, has been open. This paper derives formulas for the channel resolvability for a given general source and channel pair. We also investigate the channel resolvability in an optimistic sense. It is demonstrated that the derived general formulas recapture a single-letter formula for the stationary memoryless source and channel. When the channel is the identity mapping, the established formulas reduce to an alternative form of the spectral sup-entropy rates, which play a key role in information spectrum methods. The analysis is also extended to the second-order channel resolvability.