Channel upgradation for non-binary input alphabets and MACs

Consider a single-user or multiple-access channel with a large output alphabet. A method to approximate the channel by an upgraded version having a smaller output alphabet is presented and analyzed. The original channel is not necessarily symmetric and does not necessarily have a binary input alphabet. Also, the input distribution is not necessarily uniform. The approximation method is instrumental when constructing capacity achieving polar codes for an asymmetric channel with a non-binary input alphabet. Other settings in which the method is instrumental are the wiretap setting as well as the lossy source coding setting.