Propagation Distance Estimation for Radio over Fiber with Cascaded Structure

Recent developments in polymer microwave fiber (PMF) have opened great opportunities for robust, low-cost, and high-speed sub-terahertz (THz) communications. Noticing this great potential, this paper addresses the problem of estimation of the propagation distance of a sub-Thz signal along a radio over fiber structure. Particularly, this paper considers a novel cascaded structure that interconnects multiple radio units (RUs) via fiber for applications in indoor scenarios. Herein, we consider the cascaded effects of distortions introduced by non-linear power amplifiers at the RUs, and the propagation channel over the fiber is based on measurements obtained from transmissions of sub-THz signals on high-density polyethylene fibers. For the estimation of the propagation distance, non-linear least-squares algorithms are proposed, and our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed estimators present a good performance on the propagation distance estimation even in the presence of the cascaded effect of non-linear PAs.

User-to-User Interference Mitigation in Dynamic TDD MIMO Systems with Multi-Antenna Users

We propose a novel method for user-to-user interference (UUI) mitigation in dynamic time-division duplex multiple-input multiple-output communication systems with multi-antenna users. Specifically, we consider the downlink data transmission in the presence of UUI caused by a user that simultaneously transmits in uplink. Our method introduces an overhead for estimation of the user-to-user channels by transmitting pilots from the uplink user to the downlink users. Each downlink user obtains a channel estimate that is used to design a combining matrix for UUI mitigation. We analytically derive an achievable spectral efficiency for the downlink transmission in the presence of UUI with our mitigation technique. Through numerical simulations, we show that our method can significantly improve the spectral efficiency performance in cases of heavy UUI.

Access Point Selection for Bistatic Backscatter Communication in Cell-Free MIMO

Backscatter communication (BC) has emerged as a key technology to satisfy the increasing need for low-cost and green Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity, especially in large-scale deployments. Unlike the monostatic BC (MoBC), the bistatic BC (BiBC) has the possibility to decrease the round-trip path loss by having the carrier emitter (CE) and the reader in different locations. Therefore, this work investigates the BiBC in the context of cell-free multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) networks by exploring the optimal selection of CE and reader among all access points, leveraging prior knowledge about the area where the backscatter device (BD) is located. First, a maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) detector to decode the BD information bits is derived. Then, the exact probability of error for this detector is obtained. In addition, an algorithm to select the best CE-reader pair for serving the specified area is proposed. Finally, simulation results show that the error performance of the BC is improved by the proposed algorithm compared to the benchmark scenario.

Distributed Signal Processing for Extremely Large-Scale Antenna Array Systems: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

Extremely large-scale antenna arrays (ELAA) play a critical role in enabling the functionalities of next generation wireless communication systems. However, as the number of antennas increases, ELAA systems face significant bottlenecks, such as excessive interconnection costs and high computational complexity. Efficient distributed signal processing (SP) algorithms show great promise in overcoming these challenges. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of distributed SP algorithms for ELAA systems, tailored to address these bottlenecks. We start by presenting three representative forms of ELAA systems: single-base station ELAA systems, coordinated distributed antenna systems, and ELAA systems integrated with emerging technologies. For each form, we review the associated distributed SP algorithms in the literature. Additionally, we outline several important future research directions that are essential for improving the performance and practicality of ELAA systems.

Joint Optimization of Switching Point and Power Control in Dynamic TDD Cell-Free Massive MIMO

We consider a cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CFmMIMO) network operating in dynamic time division duplex (DTDD). The switching point between the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) data transmission phases can be adapted dynamically to the instantaneous quality-of-service (QoS) requirements in order to improve energy efficiency (EE). To this end, we formulate a problem of optimizing the DTDD switching point jointly with the UL and DL power control coefficients, and the large-scale fading decoding (LSFD) weights for EE maximization. Then, we propose an iterative algorithm to solve the formulated challenging problem using successive convex approximation with an approximate stationary solution. Simulation results show that optimizing switching points remarkably improves EE compared with baseline schemes that adjust switching points heuristically.

Achieving Distributed MIMO Performance with Repeater-Assisted Cellular Massive MIMO

5G systems are being deployed all over the world and one key enabler of these systems is massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). This technology has brought large performance gains in terms of serving many users. Despite the possibility to further exploit the spatial domain, there are situations where it is not possible to offer more than a single, or a few, data streams per user and where cell-edge coverage is an issue due to the lack of enough efficient channel scatterers. Looking ahead, distributed MIMO systems, where the antennas are spread over a larger area, are investigated for next generation systems. However, distributed MIMO comes with many practical deployment issues, making it a big challenge to adopt. As another way forward, we envision repeater-assisted cellular massive MIMO, where repeaters are deployed to act as channel scatterers to increase the rank of the channel and provide macro diversity for improved coverage and reliability. After elaborating on the requirements and hardware aspects of repeaters that enable this vision, we demonstrate through simulations the potential of repeater-assisted cellular massive MIMO to achieve distributed MIMO performance. Following this, we discuss open questions and future research directions.

Federated Learning with Multi-resolution Model Broadcast

In federated learning, a server must periodically broadcast a model to the agents. We propose to use multi-resolution coding and modulation (also known as non-uniform modulation) for this purpose. In the simplest instance, broadcast transmission is used, whereby all agents are targeted with one and the same transmission (typically without any particular favored beam direction), which is coded using multi-resolution coding/modulation. This enables high-SNR agents, with high path gains to the server, to receive a more accurate model than the low-SNR agents do, without consuming more downlink resources. As one implementation, we use transmission with a non-uniform 8-PSK constellation, where a high-SNR receiver (agent) can separate all 8 constellation points (hence receive 3 bits) whereas a low-SNR receiver can only separate 4 points (hence receive 2 bits). By encoding the least significant information in the third bit, the high-SNR receivers can obtain the model with higher accuracy, while the low-SNR receiver can still obtain the model although with reduced accuracy, thereby facilitating at least some basic participation of the low-SNR receiver. We show the effectiveness of our proposed scheme via experimentation using federated learning with the MNIST data-set.

Energy-Efficient Federated Edge Learning with Streaming Data: A Lyapunov Optimization Approach

Federated learning (FL) has received significant attention in recent years for its advantages in efficient training of machine learning models across distributed clients without disclosing user-sensitive data. Specifically, in federated edge learning (FEEL) systems, the time-varying nature of wireless channels introduces inevitable system dynamics in the communication process, thereby affecting training latency and energy consumption. In this work, we further consider a streaming data scenario where new training data samples are randomly generated over time at edge devices. Our goal is to develop a dynamic scheduling and resource allocation algorithm to address the inherent randomness in data arrivals and resource availability under long-term energy constraints. To achieve this, we formulate a stochastic network optimization problem and use the Lyapunov drift-plus-penalty framework to obtain a dynamic resource management design. Our proposed algorithm makes adaptive decisions on device scheduling, computational capacity adjustment, and allocation of bandwidth and transmit power in every round. We provide convergence analysis for the considered setting with heterogeneous data and time-varying objective functions, which supports the rationale behind our proposed scheduling design. The effectiveness of our scheme is verified through simulation results, demonstrating improved learning performance and energy efficiency as compared to baseline schemes.

Robust Covariance-Based Activity Detection for Massive Access

The wireless channel is undergoing continuous changes, and the block-fading assumption, despite its popularity in theoretical contexts, never holds true in practical scenarios. This discrepancy is particularly critical for user activity detection in grant-free random access, where joint processing across multiple resource blocks is usually undesirable. In this paper, we propose employing a low-dimensional approximation of the channel to capture variations over time and frequency and robustify activity detection algorithms. This approximation entails projecting channel fading vectors onto their principal directions to minimize the approximation order. Through numerical examples, we demonstrate a substantial performance improvement achieved by the resulting activity detection algorithm.

Decentralized Algorithms for Out-of-System Interference Suppression in Distributed MIMO

Out-of-system (OoS) interference is a potential limitation for distributed networks that operate in unlicensed spectrum or in a spectrum sharing scenario. The OoS interference differs from the in-system interference in that OoS signals and their associated channels (or even their statistics) are completely unknown. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed algorithm that can mitigate OoS interference in the uplink and suppress the signal transmission in the OoS direction in the downlink. To estimate the OoS interference, each access point (AP), upon receiving an estimate of OoS interference from a previous AP, computes a better estimate of OoS interference by rotate-and-average using Procrustes method and forwards the estimates to the next AP. This process continues until the central processing unit (CPU) receives the final estimate. Our method has comparable performance to that of a fully centralized interference rejection combining algorithm and has much lower fronthaul load requirements.