Channel-coded Over-the-Air Computation

Abstract

This letter studies channel coding for over-the-air computation (AirComp). AirComp enables efficient wireless data aggregation, where computation accuracy is the key performance metric. However, this accuracy is sensitive to channel impairments. As a promising solution, the role of channel coding in AirComp has been largely unexplored, creating a critical gap in achieving reliable AirComp systems. To address this, we propose a novel channel coding scheme tailored for AirComp that preserves the aggregation structure while mitigating channel distortions. We show that the computation error decreases with the coding rate and can asymptotically approach zero. Both theoretical and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly enhances computation performance.