  In this paper, we characterize the throughput of a broadcast network with n
receivers using rateless codes with block size K. We assume that the underlying
channel is a Markov modulated erasure channel that is i.i.d. across users, but
can be correlated in time. We characterize the system throughput asymptotically
in n. Specifically, we explicitly show how the throughput behaves for different
values of the coding block size K as a function of n, as n approaches infinity.
For finite values of K and n, under the more restrictive assumption of
Gilbert-Elliott channels, we are able to provide a lower bound on the maximum
achievable throughput. Using simulations we show the tightness of the bound
with respect to system parameters n and K, and find that its performance is
significantly better than the previously known lower bounds.
