Chapter 30: Open Problems and Future Directions

Learning Objectives

• Identify the major open problems in information theory and understand why they remain unsolved
• Describe the gap between inner and outer bounds for the interference channel and relay networks
• Explain the significance of non-Shannon inequalities for network coding and capacity characterization
• Articulate the role of information theory in 6G system design: ISAC, near-field, extremely large arrays
• Read and critically evaluate information theory papers, distinguishing achievability from converse, DoF from finite-SNR, and inner bounds from capacity
• Identify promising research directions at the frontier of the field