Low-complexity Frequency Domain Equalization for filtered-AFDM over General Physical Channels

Affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM) has emerged as a promising waveform for high-mobility communications. However, its equalization remains a practical challenge under general physical channels with off-grid delay and Doppler effects. In this paper, we investigate frequency domain equalization for AFDM by considering a practical filtered-AFDM waveform. We analyze the input-output relations of filtered-AFDM across various domains and show that off-grid effects lead to severe inter-symbol interference in the DAFT domain, limiting the effectiveness of DAFT domain equalization. Motivated by the compactness of the frequency domain channel matrix in wideband systems, we propose a low-complexity two-stage frequency domain equalization scheme. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves performance close to full-block LMMSE equalization with significantly reduced computational complexity, and offers clear advantages over time domain equalization in wideband scenarios.

Goal-Oriented Framework for Optical Flow-based Multi-User Multi-Task Video Transmission

Efficient multi-user multi-task video transmission is an important research topic within the realm of current wireless communication systems. To reduce the transmission burden and save communication resources, we propose a goal-oriented semantic communication framework for optical flow-based multi-user multi-task video transmission (OF-GSC). At the transmitter, we design a semantic encoder that consists of a motion extractor and a patch-level optical flow-based semantic representation extractor to effectively identify and select important semantic representations. At the receiver, we design a transformer-based semantic decoder for high-quality video reconstruction and video classification tasks. To minimize the communication time, we develop a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG)-based bandwidth allocation algorithm for multi-user transmission. For video reconstruction tasks, our OF-GSC framework achieves a significant improvement in the received video quality, as evidenced by a 13.47% increase in the structural similarity index measure (SSIM) score in comparison to DeepJSCC. For video classification tasks, OF-GSC achieves a Top-1 accuracy slightly surpassing the performance of VideoMAE with only 25% required data under the same mask ratio of 0.3. For bandwidth allocation optimization, our DDPG-based algorithm reduces the maximum transmission time by 25.97% compared with the baseline equal-bandwidth allocation scheme.

A Novel One-tap Equalizer for Zero-Padded AFDM System over Doubly Selective Channels

Recently, affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM) has gained traction as a robust solution for doubly selective channels. In this paper, we present a novel low-complexity one-tap equalizer for zero-padded AFDM (ZP-AFDM) systems. We first select the AFDM parameters, $c_1$ and $c_2$, such that $c_1$ has a relatively high value, and $c_2$ depends on $c_1$, which simplifies the affine domain input-output relation (IOR). This selection also demonstrates that a phase term that varies slowly along the affine domain is experienced by all affine domain symbols and this variation is significantly slower compared to that experienced by the time domain symbols over doubly selective channels. To simplify the equalization, we then introduce zero padding to the transmitted affine domain symbols and reconstruction operation on the received affine domain symbols. By doing so, we convert the effective affine domain IOR of our ZP-AFDM system to be characterized using approximately circular convolution. Next, we transform the resulting affine domain symbols into a new domain called the frequency-of-affine (FoA) domain. We propose our one-tap equalizer in this FoA domain to efficiently recover the transmitted symbols. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed one-tap equalizer, particularly when $c_1$ is high, without compromising performance robustness.

Doppler Shift Keying Modulation for Uplink Multiple Access over Doubly-Dispersive Channels

The delay-Doppler (DD) domain modulation has been regarded as one of the most competitive candidates to support wireless communications for emerging high-mobility applications in the sixth-generation mobile networks. Unfortunately, most of the existing designs for DD domain modulation suffer from high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) and unbearable detection complexity under uplink transmission since large time duration and bandwidth are required to guarantee high DD resolutions. To address these issues, the Doppler shift keying (DSK) modulation based on the orthogonal delay Doppler division multiplexing modulator is proposed in this paper, where the input-output characterization in the DD domain is fully exploited. The principle of the DSK transceiver is first established with the one-hot mapper and low-complexity iterative successive interference cancellation-maximum ratio combining detector for point-to-point scenarios. The proposed scheme is then generalized to the zero auto-correlation sequence-based implementation, which benefits the extension of multi-user (MU) uplink DSK frameworks. For uplink DSK transmission, Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences are adopted as the basis sequences. We optimize the assignment of ZC roots to different user equipments (UEs) by minimizing the maximum inter-user interference. This optimization process, which analyzes the root allocation, directly assigns a specific ZC sequence to each UE. The PAPR and bit error rate performance of the proposed DSK modulation with the low-complexity detector is finally verified by extensive simulation results under doubly-dispersive channels, which demonstrates the superiority of DSK modulation especially for uplink multiple access over doubly dispersive channels.

Guaranteed Image Classification via Goal-oriented Joint Semantic Source and Channel Coding

To enable critical applications such as remote diagnostics, image classification must be guaranteed under bandwidth constraints and unreliable wireless channels through joint source and channel coding (JSCC) design. However, most existing JSCC methods focus on minimizing image distortion, implicitly assuming that all image regions contribute equally to classification performance, thereby overlooking their varying importance for the task. In this paper, we propose a goal-oriented joint semantic source and channel coding (G-JSSCC) framework that applies \emph{various} levels of source coding compression and channel coding protection across image regions based on their semantic importance. Specifically, we design a semantic information extraction method that identifies and ranks various image regions based on their contributions to classification, where the contribution is measured by the shapely value from explainable artificial intelligence (AI). Based on that, we design a semantic source coding and a semantic channel coding method, which allocates higher-quality compression and stronger error protection to image regions of great semantic importance. In addition, we define a new metric, termed coding efficiency, to evaluate the effectiveness of the source and channel coding in the classification task. Simulations show that our proposed G-JSSCC framework improves classification probability by 2.70 times, reduces transmission cost by 38%, and enhances coding efficiency by 5.91 times, compared to the benchmark scheme using uniform compression and an idealized channel code to uniformly protect the whole image.

A Novel ISAC Waveform Based on Orthogonal Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing with FMCW

In this work, we propose the orthogonal delay-Doppler (DD) division multiplexing (ODDM) modulation with frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) (ODDM-FMCW) waveform to enable integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) with a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). We first propose a square-root-Nyquist-filtered FMCW (SRN-FMCW) waveform to address limitations of conventional linear FMCW waveforms in ISAC systems. To better integrate with ODDM, we generate SRN-FMCW by embedding symbols in the DD domain, referred to as a DD-SRN-FMCW frame. A DD chirp compression receiver is designed to obtain the channel response efficiently. Next, we construct the proposed ODDM-FMCW waveform for ISAC by superimposing a DD-SRN-FMCW frame onto an ODDM data frame. A comprehensive performance analysis of the ODDM-FMCW waveform is presented, covering peak-to-average power ratio, spectrum, ambiguity function, and Cramer-Rao bound for delay and Doppler estimation. Numerical results show that the proposed ODDM-FMCW waveform delivers excellent ISAC performance in terms of root mean square error for sensing and bit error rate for communications.

Achieving Full Multipath Diversity by Random Constellation Rotation: a Theoretical Perspective

Diversity is an essential concept associated with communication reliability in multipath channels since it determines the slope of bit error rate performance in the medium to high signal-to-noise ratio regions. However, most of the existing analytical frameworks were developed for specific modulation schemes while the efficient validation of full multipath diversity for general modulation schemes remains an open problem. To fill this research gap, we propose to utilize random constellation rotation to ease the conditions for full-diversity modulation designs. For linearly precoded cyclic-prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, we prove that maximum multipath diversity can be attained as long as the spread matrix does not have zero entries, which is a sufficient but easily satisfied condition. Furthermore, we derive the sufficient and necessary condition for general modulation schemes, whose verification can be divided into validation tasks for each column of the modulation matrix. Based on the proposed conditions, maximum diversity order can be attained with the probability of 1 by enabling a randomly generated rotation pattern for both time and doubly dispersive channels. The theoretical analysis in this paper also demonstrates that the diversity evaluation can be concentrated on the pairwise error probability when the number of error symbols is one, which reduces the complexity of diversity-driven design and performance analysis for novel modulation schemes significantly in both time and doubly dispersive channels. Finally, numerical results for various modulation schemes confirm that the theoretical analysis holds in both time and doubly dispersive channels. Furthermore, when employing practical detectors, the random constellation rotation technique consistently enhance the transmission reliability for both coded and uncoded systems.

Spectrum and Orthogonality of Orthogonal Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing Modulation Waveforms

Orthogonal delay-Doppler (DD) division multiplexing (ODDM) modulation has recently emerged as a promising paradigm for ensuring reliable communications in doubly-selective channels. This work investigates the spectra and orthogonality characteristics of analog (direct) and approximate digital implementations of ODDM systems. We first determine the time and frequency domain representations of the basis functions for waveform in analog and approximate digital ODDM systems. Thereafter, we derive their power spectral densities and show that while the spectrum of analog ODDM waveforms exhibits a step-wise behavior in its transition regions, the spectrum of approximate digital ODDM waveforms is confined to that of the ODDM sub-pulse. Next, we prove the orthogonality characteristics of approximate digital ODDM waveforms and show that, unlike analog ODDM waveforms, the approximate digital ODDM waveforms satisfy orthogonality without the need of additional time domain resources. Additionally, we examine the similarities and differences that implementations of approximate digital ODDM share with the other variants of DD modulations, focusing on the domain changes the symbols undergo, the type of pulse shaping and windowing used, and the domains and the sequence in which they are performed. Finally, we present numerical results to validate our findings and draw further insights.

Sum-Rate Maximization for Pinching Antenna-assisted NOMA Systems with Multiple Dielectric Waveguides

This paper investigates the resource allocation design for a pinching antenna (PA)-assisted multiuser multiple-input single-output (MISO) non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system featuring multiple dielectric waveguides. To enhance model accuracy, we propose a novel frequency-dependent power attenuation model for dielectric waveguides in PA-assisted systems. By jointly optimizing the precoder vector and the PA placement, we aim to maximize the system's sum-rate while accounting for the power attenuation across dielectric waveguides. The design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem. To effectively address the problem at hand, we introduce an alternating optimization-based algorithm to obtain a suboptimal solution in polynomial time. Our results demonstrate that the proposed PA-assisted system not only significantly outperforms the conventional system but also surpasses a naive PA-assisted system that disregards power attenuation. The performance gain compared to the naive PA-assisted system becomes more pronounced at high carrier frequencies, emphasizing the importance of considering power attenuation in system design.

Parallel Coding for Orthogonal Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing

This paper proposes a novel parallel coding transmission strategy and an iterative detection and decoding receiver signal processing technique for orthogonal delay-Doppler division multiplexing (ODDM) modulation. Specifically, the proposed approach employs a parallel channel encoding (PCE) scheme that consists of multiple short-length codewords for each delay-Doppler multicarrier (DDMC) symbol. Building upon such a PCE transmission framework, we then introduce an iterative detection and decoding algorithm incorporating a successive decoding feedback (SDF) technique, which enables instant information exchange between the detector and decoder for each DDMC symbol. To characterize the error performance of the proposed scheme, we perform density evolution analysis considering the finite blocklength effects. Our analysis results, coupled with extensive simulations, demonstrate that the proposed PCE scheme with the SDF algorithm not only showcases a better overall performance but also requires much less decoding complexity to implement, compared to the conventional benchmark scheme that relies on a single long channel code for coding the entire ODDM frame.