Maximization of average number of correctly received symbols over multiple channels in the presence of idle periods

In this study, optimal channel switching (time sharing) strategies are investigated under average power and cost constraints for maximizing the average number of correctly received symbols between a transmitter and a receiver that are connected via multiple flat-fading channels with additive Gaussian noise. The optimal strategy is shown to correspond to channel switching either among at most three different channels with full channel utilization (i.e., no idle periods), or between at most two different channels with partial channel utilization. Also, it is stated that the optimal solution must operate at the maximum average power and the maximum average cost, which facilitates low-complexity approaches for obtaining the optimal strategy. For two-channel strategies, an upper bound is derived, in terms of the parameters of the employed channels, on the ratio between the optimal power levels. In addition, theoretical results are derived for characterizing the optimal solution for channel switching between two channels, and for comparing performance of single channel strategies. Sufficient conditions that depend solely on the systems parameters are obtained for specifying when partial channel utilization cannot be optimal. Furthermore, the proposed optimal channel switching problem is investigated for logarithmic cost functions, and various theoretical results are obtained related to the optimal strategy. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.