Faculty of Technical Sciences

This paper considers the potential benefits of applying coding techniques in recommendation systems that operate over wireless channels, where erasures may occur. We identify scenarios where the ability to broadcast coded messages is beneficial for both the exploration and exploitation phases of the system, allowing improvements of user satisfaction at a fixed channel utilization level. We determine the potential magnitude of the gains and show that the advantage of coding is greatest when the users have heterogeneous preferences. Finally, we provide inequalities that can be evaluated to determine whether coding would be beneficial for a certain reward structure.