  A two-user discrete memoryless compound multiple access channel with a common
message and conferencing decoders is considered. The capacity region is
characterized in the special cases of physically degraded channels and
unidirectional cooperation, and achievable rate regions are provided for the
general case. The results are then extended to the corresponding Gaussian
model. In the Gaussian setup, the provided achievable rates are shown to lie
within some constant number of bits from the boundary of the capacity region in
several special cases. An alternative model, in which the encoders are
connected by conferencing links rather than having a common message, is studied
as well, and the capacity region for this model is also determined for the
cases of physically degraded channels and unidirectional cooperation. Numerical
results are also provided to obtain insights about the potential gains of
conferencing at the decoders and encoders.
