Linear Network Coding, Linear Index Coding and Representable Discrete Polymatroids

Discrete polymatroids are the multi-set analogue of matroids. In this paper, we explore the connections among linear network coding, linear index coding and representable discrete polymatroids. We consider vector linear solutions of networks over a field $\mathbb{F}_q,$ with possibly different message and edge vector dimensions, which are referred to as linear fractional solutions. We define a \textit{discrete polymatroidal} network and show that a linear fractional solution over a field $\mathbb{F}_q,$ exists for a network if and only if the network is discrete polymatroidal with respect to a discrete polymatroid representable over $\mathbb{F}_q.$ An algorithm to construct networks starting from certain class of discrete polymatroids is provided. Every representation over $\mathbb{F}_q$ for the discrete polymatroid, results in a linear fractional solution over $\mathbb{F}_q$ for the constructed network. Next, we consider the index coding problem and show that a linear solution to an index coding problem exists if and only if there exists a representable discrete polymatroid satisfying certain conditions which are determined by the index coding problem considered. El Rouayheb et. al. showed that the problem of finding a multi-linear representation for a matroid can be reduced to finding a \textit{perfect linear index coding solution} for an index coding problem obtained from that matroid. We generalize the result of El Rouayheb et. al. by showing that the problem of finding a representation for a discrete polymatroid can be reduced to finding a perfect linear index coding solution for an index coding problem obtained from that discrete polymatroid.