RIS-assisted Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems With Two-Timescale Design and Hardware Impairments

Integrating the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) into a cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF-mMIMO) system is an effective solution to achieve high system capacity with low cost and power consumption. However, existing works of RIS-assisted systems mostly assumed perfect hardware, while the impact of hardware impairments (HWIs) is generally ignored. In this paper, we consider the general Rician fading channel and uplink transmission of the RIS-assisted CF-mMIMO system under transceiver impairments and RIS phase noise. To reduce the feedback overhead and power consumption, we propose a two-timescale transmission scheme to optimize the passive beamformers at RISs with statistical channel state information (CSI), while transmit beamformers at access points (APs) are designed based on instantaneous CSI. Also, the maximum ratio combining (MRC) detection is applied to the central processing unit (CPU). On this basis, we derive the closed-form approximate expression of the achievable rate, based on which the impact of HWIs and the power scaling laws are analyzed to draw useful theoretical insights. To maximize the users' sum rate or minimum rate, we first transform our rate expression into a tractable form, and then optimize the phase shifts of RISs based on an accelerated gradient ascent method. Finally, numerical results are presented to demonstrate the correctness of our derived expressions and validate the previous analysis, which provide some guidelines for the practical application of the imperfect RISs in the CF-mMIMO with transceiver HWIs.

Exploit High-Dimensional RIS Information to Localization: What Is the Impact of Faulty Element?

This paper proposes a novel localization algorithm using the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) received signal, i.e., RIS information. Compared with BS received signal, i.e., BS information, RIS information offers higher dimension and richer feature set, thereby providing an enhanced capacity to distinguish positions of the mobile users (MUs). Additionally, we address a practical scenario where RIS contains some unknown (number and places) faulty elements that cannot receive signals. Initially, we employ transfer learning to design a two-phase transfer learning (TPTL) algorithm, designed for accurate detection of faulty elements. Then our objective is to regain the information lost from the faulty elements and reconstruct the complete high-dimensional RIS information for localization. To this end, we propose a transfer-enhanced dual-stage (TEDS) algorithm. In \emph{Stage I}, we integrate the CNN and variational autoencoder (VAE) to obtain the RIS information, which in \emph{Stage II}, is input to the transferred DenseNet 121 to estimate the location of the MU. To gain more insight, we propose an alternative algorithm named transfer-enhanced direct fingerprint (TEDF) algorithm which only requires the BS information. The comparison between TEDS and TEDF reveals the effectiveness of faulty element detection and the benefits of utilizing the high-dimensional RIS information for localization. Besides, our empirical results demonstrate that the performance of the localization algorithm is dominated by the high-dimensional RIS information and is robust to unoptimized phase shifts and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Employing High-Dimensional RIS Information for RIS-aided Localization Systems

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided localization systems have attracted extensive research attention due to their accuracy enhancement capabilities. However, most studies primarily utilized the base stations (BS) received signal, i.e., BS information, for localization algorithm design, neglecting the potential of RIS received signal, i.e., RIS information. Compared with BS information, RIS information offers higher dimension and richer feature set, thereby significantly improving the ability to extract positions of the mobile users (MUs). Addressing this oversight, this paper explores the algorithm design based on the high-dimensional RIS information. Specifically, we first propose a RIS information reconstruction (RIS-IR) algorithm to reconstruct the high-dimensional RIS information from the low-dimensional BS information. The proposed RIS-IR algorithm comprises a data processing module for preprocessing BS information, a convolution neural network (CNN) module for feature extraction, and an output module for outputting the reconstructed RIS information. Then, we propose a transfer learning based fingerprint (TFBF) algorithm that employs the reconstructed high-dimensional RIS information for MU localization. This involves adapting a pre-trained DenseNet-121 model to map the reconstructed RIS signal to the MU's three-dimensional (3D) position. Empirical results affirm that the localization performance is significantly influenced by the high-dimensional RIS information and maintains robustness against unoptimized phase shifts.

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.

Joint Beamforming Design for Double Active RIS-assisted Radar-Communication Coexistence Systems

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) technology has been considered as one of the key candidate technologies in the next-generation wireless communication systems. However, when radar and communication equipment coexist in the same system, i.e. radar-communication coexistence (RCC), the interference from communication systems to radar can be large and cannot be ignored. Recently, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has been introduced into RCC systems to reduce the interference. However, the "multiplicative fading" effect introduced by passive RIS limits its performance. To tackle this issue, we consider a double active RIS-assisted RCC system, which focuses on the design of the radar's beamforming vector and the active RISs' reflecting coefficient matrices, to maximize the achievable data rate of the communication system. The considered system needs to meet the radar detection constraint and the power budgets at the radar and the RISs. Since the problem is non-convex, we propose an algorithm based on the penalty dual decomposition (PDD) framework. Specifically, we initially introduce auxiliary variables to reformulate the coupled variables into equation constraints and incorporate these constraints into the objective function through the PDD framework. Then, we decouple the equivalent problem into several subproblems by invoking the block coordinate descent (BCD) method. Furthermore, we employ the Lagrange dual method to alternately optimize these subproblems. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Furthermore, the results also show that under the same power budget, deploying double active RISs in RCC systems can achieve higher data rate than those with single active RIS and double passive RISs.

FAS-assisted Wireless Powered Communication Systems

Fluid Antenna System (FAS) is recognized as a promising technology for enhancing communication performance. In this context, we explored the potential of FAS-assisted wireless powered communication systems. Specifically, the transmitter, equipped with FAS, harvests the radio frequency (RF) signal from a power beacon and utilizes the harvested energy for data transmission to the receiver. To evaluate the performance of the considered systems, we derive both the analytical and asymptotic expressions of the outage probability. Simulation results indicate that the diversity of the considered network closely aligns with the number of ports. Besides, it is also revealed that the port selection criteria based solely on single-hop configurations yield a diversity order of only one.

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.

Two-Timescale Transmission Design for RIS-Aided Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems

This paper investigates the performance of two-timescale transmission design for uplink reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF-mMIMO) systems. We consider the Rician channel model and design the passive beamforming of RISs based on the long-time statistical channel state information (CSI), while the maximum ratio combining (MRC) technique is utilized to design the active beamforming of base stations (BSs) based on the instantaneous overall channels, which are the superposition of the direct and RIS-reflected channels. Firstly, we derive the closed-form expressions of uplink achievable rate for arbitrary numbers of BS antennas and RIS reflecting elements. Relying on the derived expressions, we theoretically analyze the benefits of RIS-aided cell-free mMIMO systems and draw explicit insights. Then, based on closed-form expressions under statistical CSI, we maximize the sum user rate and the minimum user rate by optimizing the phase shifts of the RISs based on the genetic algorithm (GA). Finally, the numerical results demonstrate the feasibility and the benefits of deploying large-size RISs into conventional cell-free mMIMO systems. Besides, our results validate the effectiveness of the proposed two-timescale scheme in the RIS-aided cell-free mMIMO systems.

Toward Secure and Private Over-the-Air Federated Learning

In this paper, a novel secure and private over-the-air federated learning (SP-OTA-FL) framework is studied where noise is employed to protect data privacy and system security. Specifically, the privacy leakage of user data and the security level of the system are measured by differential privacy (DP) and mean square error security (MSE-security), respectively. To mitigate the impact of noise on learning accuracy, we propose a channel-weighted post-processing (CWPP) mechanism, which assigns a smaller weight to the gradient of the device with poor channel conditions. Furthermore, employing CWPP can avoid the issue that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the overall system is limited by the device with the worst channel condition in aligned over-the-air federated learning (OTA-FL). We theoretically analyze the effect of noise on privacy and security protection and also illustrate the adverse impact of noise on learning performance by conducting convergence analysis. Based on these analytical results, we propose device scheduling policies considering privacy and security protection in different cases of channel noise. In particular, we formulate an integer nonlinear fractional programming problem aiming to minimize the negative impact of noise on the learning process. We obtain the closed-form solution to the optimization problem when the model is with high dimension. For the general case, we propose a secure and private algorithm (SPA) based on the branch-and-bound (BnB) method, which can obtain an optimal solution with low complexity. The effectiveness of the proposed CWPP mechanism and the policies for device selection are validated through simulations.

An Overview of Signal Processing Techniques for RIS/IRS-aided Wireless Systems

In the past as well as present wireless communication systems, the wireless propagation environment is regarded as an uncontrollable black box that impairs the received signal quality, and its negative impacts are compensated for by relying on the design of various sophisticated transmission/reception schemes. However, the improvements through applying such schemes operating at two endpoints (i.e., transmitter and receiver) only are limited even after five generations of wireless systems. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) or intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) have emerged as a new and revolutionary technology that can configure the wireless environment in a favorable manner by properly tuning the phase shifts of a large number of quasi passive and low-cost reflecting elements, thus standing out as a promising candidate technology for the next-/sixth-generation (6G) wireless system. However, to reap the performance benefits promised by RIS/IRS, efficient signal processing techniques are crucial, for a variety of purposes such as channel estimation, transmission design, radio localization, and so on. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances on RIS/IRS-aided wireless systems from the signal processing perspective. We also highlight promising research directions that are worthy of investigation in the future.