Performance Analysis on RIS-Aided Wideband Massive MIMO OFDM Systems with Low-Resolution ADCs

This paper investigates a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided wideband massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system with low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Frequency-selective Rician fading channels are considered, and the OFDM data transmission process is presented in time domain. This paper derives the closed-form approximate expression of the uplink achievable rate, based on which the asymptotic system performance is analyzed when the number of the antennas at the base station and the number of reflecting elements at the RIS grow to infinity. Besides, the power scaling laws of the considered system are revealed to provide energy-saving insights. Furthermore, this paper proposes a gradient ascent-based algorithm to design the phase shifts of the RIS for maximizing the minimum user rate. Finally, numerical results are presented to verify the correctness of analytical conclusions and draw insights.

Electromagnetic Information Theory: Fundamentals and Applications for 6G Wireless Communication Systems

In wireless communications, electromagnetic theory and information theory constitute a pair of fundamental theories, bridged by antenna theory and wireless propagation channel modeling theory. Up to the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks, these four theories have been developing relatively independently. However, in sixth generation (6G) space-air-ground-sea wireless communication networks, seamless coverage is expected in the three-dimensional (3D) space, potentially necessitating the acquisition of channel state information (CSI) and channel capacity calculation at anywhere and any time. Additionally, the key 6G technologies such as ultra-massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and holographic MIMO achieves intricate interaction of the antennas and wireless propagation environments, which necessitates the joint modeling of antennas and wireless propagation channels. To address the challenges in 6G, the integration of the above four theories becomes inevitable, leading to the concept of the so-called electromagnetic information theory (EIT). In this article, a suite of 6G key technologies is highlighted. Then, the concepts and relationships of the four theories are unveiled. Finally, the necessity and benefits of integrating them into the EIT are revealed.

Novel 3D Geometry-Based Stochastic Models for Non-Isotropic MIMO Vehicle-to-Vehicle Channels

This paper proposes a novel three-dimensional (3D) theoretical regular-shaped geometry-based stochastic model (RS-GBSM) and the corresponding sum-of-sinusoids (SoS) simulation model for non-isotropic multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) Ricean fading channels. The proposed RS-GBSM, combining line-of-sight (LoS) components, a two-sphere model, and an elliptic-cylinder model, has the ability to study the impact of the vehicular traffic density (VTD) on channel statistics, and jointly considers the azimuth and elevation angles by using the von Mises Fisher distribution. Moreover, a novel parameter computation method is proposed for jointly calculating the azimuth and elevation angles in the SoS channel simulator. Based on the proposed 3D theoretical RS-GBSM and its SoS simulation model, statistical properties are derived and thoroughly investigated. The impact of the elevation angle in the 3D model on key statistical properties is investigated by comparing with those of the corresponding two-dimensional (2D) model. It is demonstrated that the 3D model is more accurate to characterize real V2V channels, in particular for pico cell scenarios. Finally, close agreement is achieved between the theoretical model, SoS simulation model, and simulation results, demonstrating the utility of the proposed models.

A WINNER+ Based 3-D Non-Stationary Wideband MIMO Channel Model

In this paper, a three-dimensional (3-D) non-stationary wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel model based on the WINNER+ channel model is proposed. The angular distributions of clusters in both the horizontal and vertical planes are jointly considered. The receiver and clusters can be moving, which makes the model more general. Parameters including number of clusters, powers, delays, azimuth angles of departure (AAoDs), azimuth angles of arrival (AAoAs), elevation angles of departure (EAoDs), and elevation angles of arrival (EAoAs) are time-variant. The cluster time evolution is modeled using a birth-death process. Statistical properties, including spatial cross-correlation function (CCF), temporal autocorrelation function (ACF), Doppler power spectrum density (PSD), level-crossing rate (LCR), average fading duration (AFD), and stationary interval are investigated and analyzed. The LCR, AFD, and stationary interval of the proposed channel model are validated against the measurement data. Numerical and simulation results show that the proposed channel model has the ability to reproduce the main properties of real non-stationary channels. Furthermore, the proposed channel model can be adapted to various communication scenarios by adjusting different parameter values.

A General 3D Non-Stationary 5G Wireless Channel Model

A novel unified framework of geometry-based stochastic models (GBSMs) for the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems is proposed in this paper. The proposed general 5G channel model aims at capturing small-scale fading channel characteristics of key 5G communication scenarios, such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), high-speed train (HST), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and millimeter wave (mmWave) communication scenarios. It is a three-dimensional (3D) non-stationary channel model based on the WINNER II and Saleh-Valenzuela (SV) channel models considering array-time cluster evolution. Moreover, it can easily be reduced to various simplified channel models by properly adjusting model parameters. Statistical properties of the proposed general 5G small-scale fading channel model are investigated to demonstrate its capability of capturing channel characteristics of various scenarios, with excellent fitting to some corresponding channel measurements.

A Novel 3D Non-stationary Localization-assisted ISAC Channel Model

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has attracted wide attention as an emerging application scenario for the sixth generation (6G) wireless communication system. In this paper, a novel three-dimensional (3D) non-stationary localization-assisted ISAC geometry-based stochastic model (GBSM) is proposed. The locations of the first-bounce scatterer and last-bounce scatterer in the communication channel can be estimated by the particle filter with the assistance of backscattering sensing. The important channel statistical properties of the proposed channel model are simulated and compared with the ray tracing (RT) results, including the delay spread, azimuth angle of departure/arrival (AAoD/AAoA) spread, and elevation angle of departure/arrival (EAoD/EAoA) spread. The simulation results of the proposed channel model show a good agreement with the RT results, which proves the correctness of the proposed channel model. Utilizing the localization parameters of scatterers, the proposed ISAC channel model can better map the real environment.

Beam Training and Tracking for Extremely Large-Scale MIMO Communications

In this paper, beam training and beam tracking are investigated for extremely large-scale multiple-input-multiple-output communication systems with partially-connected hybrid combining structures. Firstly, we propose a two-stage hybrid-field beam training scheme for both the near field and the far field. In the first stage, each subarray independently uses multiple far-field channel steering vectors to approximate near-field ones for analog combining. To find the codeword best fitting for the channel, digital combiners in the second stage are designed to combine the outputs of the analog combiners from the first stage. Then, based on the principle of stationary phase and the time-frequency duality, the expressions of subarray signals after analog combining are analytically derived and a beam refinement based on phase shifts of subarrays~(BRPSS) scheme with closed-form solutions is proposed for high-resolution channel parameter estimation. Moreover, a low-complexity near-field beam tracking scheme is developed, where the kinematic model is adopted to characterize the channel variations and the extended Kalman filter is exploited for beam tracking. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

A Tutorial on Near-Field XL-MIMO Communications Towards 6G

Extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO) is a promising technology for the sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication networks. By significantly boosting the antenna number or size to at least an order of magnitude beyond current massive MIMO systems, XL-MIMO is expected to unprecedentedly enhance the spectral efficiency and spatial resolution for wireless communication. The evolution from massive MIMO to XL-MIMO is not simply an increase in the array size, but faces new design challenges, in terms of near-field channel modelling, performance analysis, channel estimation, and practical implementation. In this article, we give a comprehensive tutorial overview on near-field XL-MIMO communications, aiming to provide useful guidance for tackling the above challenges. First, the basic near-field modelling for XL-MIMO is established, by considering the new characteristics of non-uniform spherical wave (NUSW) and spatial non-stationarity. Next, based on the near-field modelling, the performance analysis of XL-MIMO is presented, including the near-field signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scaling laws, beam focusing pattern, achievable rate, and degrees-of-freedom (DoF). Furthermore, various XL-MIMO design issues such as near-field beam codebook, beam training, channel estimation, and delay alignment modulation (DAM) transmission are elaborated. Finally, we point out promising directions to inspire future research on near-field XL-MIMO communications.

Performance Analysis and Low-Complexity Design for XL-MIMO with Near-Field Spatial Non-Stationarities

Extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO) is capable of supporting extremely high system capacities with large numbers of users. In this work, we build a framework for the analysis and low-complexity design of XL-MIMO in the near-field with spatial non-stationarities. Specifically, we first analyze the theoretical performance of discrete-aperture XL-MIMO using an electromagnetic (EM) channel model based on the near-field spherical wave-front. We analytically unveil the impact of the discrete aperture and polarization mismatch on the received power. We also review the amplitude-aware Fraunhofer distance based on the considered EM channel model. Our analytical results indicate that a limited part of the XL-array receives the majority of the signal power in the near-field, which leads to a notion of visibility region (VR) of a user. Thus, we propose a VR detection algorithm and exploit the acquired VR information to design a low-complexity symbol detection scheme. Furthermore, we propose a graph theory-based user partition algorithm, relying on the VR overlap ratio between different users. Partial zero-forcing (PZF) is utilized to eliminate only the interference from users allocated to the same group, which further reduces computational complexity in matrix inversion. Numerical results confirm the correctness of the analytical results and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. It reveals that our algorithms approach the performance of conventional whole array (WA)-based designs but with much lower complexity.

On the Road to 6G: Visions, Requirements, Key Technologies and Testbeds

Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems have entered the stage of commercial development, providing users with new services and improved user experiences as well as offering a host of novel opportunities to various industries. However, 5G still faces many challenges. To address these challenges, international industrial, academic, and standards organizations have commenced research on sixth generation (6G) wireless communication systems. A series of white papers and survey papers have been published, which aim to define 6G in terms of requirements, application scenarios, key technologies, etc. Although ITU-R has been working on the 6G vision and it is expected to reach a consensus on what 6G will be by mid-2023, the related global discussions are still wide open and the existing literature has identified numerous open issues. This paper first provides a comprehensive portrayal of the 6G vision, technical requirements, and application scenarios, covering the current common understanding of 6G. Then, a critical appraisal of the 6G network architecture and key technologies is presented. Furthermore, existing testbeds and advanced 6G verification platforms are detailed for the first time. In addition, future research directions and open challenges are identified for stimulating the on-going global debate. Finally, lessons learned to date concerning 6G networks are discussed.