Each input bit is independently deleted without an erasure marker; the exact capacity is unknown for every nontrivial deletion probability.
Point-to-point
Binary
Finite alphabet
Memory
Deletion
Capacity
Bounds only
Open
\(0.1221(1-d)<C_{\mathrm{del}}(d)\le0.3578(1-d)\)
Each bit is independently flipped with probability p, giving the canonical finite noisy channel.
Point-to-point
Binary
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Symmetric
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{BSC}}(p)=1-h_2(p)\)
An adversary selects a channel state at every use; deterministic capacity exhibits a symmetrizability dichotomy.
Arbitrarily varying
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Symmetrizability
Deterministic-code capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{det}}=\begin{cases}0,&\text{if the AVC is symmetrizable},\\\max_{P_X}\min_{q\in\mathcal P(\mathcal S)}I(P_X,W_q),&\text{otherwise.}\end{cases}\)
The general finite memoryless point-to-point channel has a single-letter mutual-information capacity formula.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C(W)=\max_{P_X} I(X;Y)\)
Additive Gaussian interference known noncausally to the encoder causes no capacity loss.
Point-to-point
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Additive noise
Noncausal state information
Side information
Power constraint
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{DPC}}=\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac PN\right)\)
A causal relay assists a source, but decode-forward and the cut-set bound do not coincide in general.
Relay
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity
Bounds only
Open
\(R_{\mathrm{DF}}\le C\le R_{\mathrm{cut}}\)
The capacity region for two arbitrary broadcast receivers remains unknown outside important ordered subclasses.
Broadcast
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity region
Bounds only
Open
\(\mathcal R_{\mathrm{Marton}}\subseteq\mathcal C_{\mathrm{BC}}\subseteq\mathcal R_{\mathrm{UV}}\)
Two transmitter-receiver pairs interfere, and the exact capacity region is unknown in general.
Interference
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity region
Bounds only
Open
\(\mathcal R_{\mathrm{HK}}\subseteq\mathcal C_{\mathrm{IC}}\subseteq\mathcal R_{\mathrm{outer}}\)
The confusability graph is a five-cycle, whose Shannon capacity is exactly the square root of five.
Zero error
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Zero-error capacity
Exact
Regularized characterization
Solved
\(\Theta(C_5)=\sqrt5,\qquad C_0(C_5)=\frac12\log_2 5\)
The power-constrained real Gaussian channel has a closed-form capacity attained by a Gaussian input.
Point-to-point
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Additive noise
Power constraint
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{AWGN}}(P,N)=\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac PN\right)\)
A multiple-unicast instance where the exact nonlinear symmetric capacity is separated from the known linear answer.
Index coding
Finite alphabet
Multiple unicast
Non-Shannon inequalities
Nonlinear coding
Symmetric capacity
Bounds only
Linear-only result
Open
\(\frac5{13}\le C_{\mathrm{sym}}\le\frac{11}{28}\)
Ozarow's feedback scheme and converse determine the full two-user Gaussian MAC feedback region.
Multiple access
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Additive noise
Feedback
Power constraint
Capacity region
Exact
Solved
\(\bigcup_{0\le\rho\le1}\!\left\{\begin{array}{l}R_1\le\frac12\log_2(1+P_1(1-\rho^2)/N),\\R_2\le\frac12\log_2(1+P_2(1-\rho^2)/N),\\R_1+R_2\le\frac12\log_2(1+(P_1+P_2+2\rho\sqrt{P_1P_2})/N)\end{array}\right\}\)
For a finite confusability graph, the regularized independence number defines capacity but is difficult to compute or characterize.
Zero error
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Zero-error capacity
Regularized characterization
Bounds only
Open
\(\Theta(G)=\sup_{n\ge1}\alpha(G^{\boxtimes n})^{1/n}\)
Noiseless feedback dramatically improves reliability schemes but leaves the ordinary AWGN capacity unchanged.
Point-to-point
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Additive noise
Feedback
Power constraint
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{AWGN,fb}}=\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac PN\right)\)
Each transmitted bit is received correctly or replaced by a visible erasure symbol.
Point-to-point
Binary
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Symmetric
Erasure
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{BEC}}(\varepsilon)=1-\varepsilon\)
One binary symbol is transmitted perfectly while the other can flip in only one direction.
Point-to-point
Binary
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Asymmetric
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_Z(p)=\log_2\!\left(1+(1-p)p^{p/(1-p)}\right)\)
A sender communicates reliably to a legitimate receiver while hiding the message from a degraded eavesdropper.
Wiretap
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Degraded
Secrecy
Secrecy capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_s=\max_{P_X}\bigl[I(X;Y)-I(X;Z)\bigr]\)
A power-constrained Gaussian transmitter serves a strong and a weak receiver by superposition coding.
Broadcast
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Degraded
Power constraint
Capacity region
Exact
Solved
\(\bigcup_{0\le\alpha\le1}\!\left\{\begin{array}{l}R_1\le\frac12\log_2(1+\alpha P/N_1),\\R_2\le\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac{(1-\alpha)P}{\alpha P+N_2}\right)\end{array}\right\}\)
A Gaussian receiver has a lower noise variance than the eavesdropper, yielding a closed-form secrecy capacity.
Wiretap
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Degraded
Secrecy
Power constraint
Secrecy capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_s=\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac{P}{\sigma_1^2}\right)-\frac12\log_2\!\left(1+\frac{P}{\sigma_2^2}\right)\)
Common noiseless output feedback lets distributed encoders cooperate, but the general capacity region is unknown.
Multiple access
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Feedback
Capacity region
Bounds only
Open
\(\mathcal R_{\mathrm{CL}}\subseteq\mathcal C_{\mathrm{MAC,fb}}\subseteq\mathcal R_{\mathrm{DB}}\)
Two terminals exchange messages while adapting each input to their own past observations.
Two-way
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Feedback
Capacity region
Bounds only
Open
\(\mathcal R_{\mathrm{Shannon,in}}\subseteq\mathcal C_{\mathrm{TWC}}\subseteq\mathcal R_{\mathrm{Shannon,out}}\)
An iid channel state is revealed causally to the encoder but not to the decoder.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Causal state information
Side information
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{causal}}=\max_{P_U,\,x=f(U,S)} I(U;Y)\)
The entire iid state sequence is known noncausally to the encoder but not the decoder.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Noncausal state information
Side information
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{GP}}=\max_{P_{U|S},\,x=f(U,S)}\bigl[I(U;Y)-I(U;S)\bigr]\)
One unknown channel from a known finite family governs the entire transmission block.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Compound
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{cmp}}=\max_{P_X}\inf_{s\in\mathcal S} I(P_X,W_s)\)
Causal noiseless output feedback changes coding strategies and reliability but not ordinary DMC capacity.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Feedback
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C_{\mathrm{fb}}(W)=C(W)=\max_{P_X}I(X;Y)\)
A symbol in a finite group is corrupted by independent additive noise with a known distribution.
Point-to-point
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Additive noise
Symmetric
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C=\log_2|G|-H(Z)\)
A q-symbol input is reproduced exactly, providing the basic normalization for channel capacity.
Point-to-point
q-ary
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C=\log_2 q\)
When the destination is a degraded version of the relay observation, decode-forward meets the cut-set bound.
Relay
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Degraded
Capacity
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(C=\max_{p(x,x_r)}\min\{I(X;Y_r|X_r),\ I(X,X_r;Y)\}\)
One transmitter sends private messages to receivers whose outputs form a degradation chain.
Broadcast
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Degraded
Capacity region
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(\mathcal C=\bigcup_{p(u,x)}\{(R_1,R_2):R_1\le I(X;Y_1|U),\ R_2\le I(U;Y_2)\}\)
A q-ary symbol is correct with probability 1-p and otherwise changes uniformly to another symbol.
Point-to-point
q-ary
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Symmetric
Capacity
Exact
Solved
\(C_q(p)=\log_2 q-h_2(p)-p\log_2(q-1)\)
Two independent senders communicate to one receiver through a memoryless channel.
Multiple access
Finite alphabet
Discrete memoryless
Capacity region
Exact
Single-letter characterization
Solved
\(\bigcup_{p(q)p(x_1|q)p(x_2|q)}\!\left\{\begin{array}{l}R_1\le I(X_1;Y|X_2,Q),\\R_2\le I(X_2;Y|X_1,Q),\\R_1+R_2\le I(X_1,X_2;Y|Q)\end{array}\right\}\)
Two power-constrained Gaussian users share one receiver, giving an exact pentagonal capacity region.
Multiple access
Continuous alphabet
Gaussian
Additive noise
Power constraint
Capacity region
Exact
Solved
\(\left\{\begin{array}{l}R_1\le\frac12\log_2(1+P_1/N),\\R_2\le\frac12\log_2(1+P_2/N),\\R_1+R_2\le\frac12\log_2(1+(P_1+P_2)/N)\end{array}\right\}\)
No problems match these filters.