Structural Knowledge-Driven Meta-Learning for Task Offloading in Vehicular Networks with Integrated Communications, Sensing and Computing

Task offloading is a potential solution to satisfy the strict requirements of computation-intensive and latency-sensitive vehicular applications due to the limited onboard computing resources. However, the overwhelming upload traffic may lead to unacceptable uploading time. To tackle this issue, for tasks taking environmental data as input, the data perceived by roadside units (RSU) equipped with several sensors can be directly exploited for computation, resulting in a novel task offloading paradigm with integrated communications, sensing and computing (I-CSC). With this paradigm, vehicles can select to upload their sensed data to RSUs or transmit computing instructions to RSUs during the offloading. By optimizing the computation mode and network resources, in this paper, we investigate an I-CSC-based task offloading problem to reduce the cost caused by resource consumption while guaranteeing the latency of each task. Although this non-convex problem can be handled by the alternating minimization (AM) algorithm that alternatively minimizes the divided four sub-problems, it leads to high computational complexity and local optimal solution. To tackle this challenge, we propose a creative structural knowledge-driven meta-learning (SKDML) method, involving both the model-based AM algorithm and neural networks. Specifically, borrowing the iterative structure of the AM algorithm, also referred to as structural knowledge, the proposed SKDML adopts long short-term memory (LSTM) network-based meta-learning to learn an adaptive optimizer for updating variables in each sub-problem, instead of the handcrafted counterpart in the AM algorithm.

Knowledge-Driven Deep Learning Paradigms for Wireless Network Optimization in 6G

In the sixth-generation (6G) networks, newly emerging diversified services of massive users in dynamic network environments are required to be satisfied by multi-dimensional heterogeneous resources. The resulting large-scale complicated network optimization problems are beyond the capability of model-based theoretical methods due to the overwhelming computational complexity and the long processing time. Although with fast online inference and universal approximation ability, data-driven deep learning (DL) heavily relies on abundant training data and lacks interpretability. To address these issues, a new paradigm called knowledge-driven DL has emerged, aiming to integrate proven domain knowledge into the construction of neural networks, thereby exploiting the strengths of both methods. This article provides a systematic review of knowledge-driven DL in wireless networks. Specifically, a holistic framework of knowledge-driven DL in wireless networks is proposed, where knowledge sources, knowledge representation, knowledge integration and knowledge application are forming as a closed loop. Then, a detailed taxonomy of knowledge integration approaches, including knowledge-assisted, knowledge-fused, and knowledge-embedded DL, is presented. Several open issues for future research are also discussed. The insights offered in this article provide a basic principle for the design of network optimization that incorporates communication-specific domain knowledge and DL, facilitating the realization of intelligent 6G networks.

Antenna Positioning and Beamforming Design for Movable-Antenna Enabled Multi-user Downlink Communications

This paper investigates a multiple input single output (MISO) downlink communication system in which users are equipped with movable antennas (MAs). First, We adopt a field-response based channel model to characterize the downlink channel with respect to MAs' positions. Then, we aim to minimize the total transmit power by jointly optimizing the MAs' positions and beamforming matrix. To solve the resulting non-convex problem, we employ an alternating optimization (AO) algorithm based on penalty method and successive convex approximation (SCA) to obtain a sub-optimal solution. Numerical results demonstrate that the MA-enabled communication system perform better than conventional fixed position antennas.

Imperfect Digital Twin Assisted Low Cost Reinforcement Training for Multi-UAV Networks

Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) is widely used to optimize the performance of multi-UAV networks. However, the training of DRL relies on the frequent interactions between the UAVs and the environment, which consumes lots of energy due to the flying and communication of UAVs in practical experiments. Inspired by the growing digital twin (DT) technology, which can simulate the performance of algorithms in the digital space constructed by coping features of the physical space, the DT is introduced to reduce the costs of practical training, e.g., energy and hardware purchases. Different from previous DT-assisted works with an assumption of perfect reflecting real physics by virtual digital, we consider an imperfect DT model with deviations for assisting the training of multi-UAV networks. Remarkably, to trade off the training cost, DT construction cost, and the impact of deviations of DT on training, the natural and virtually generated UAV mixing deployment method is proposed. Two cascade neural networks (NN) are used to optimize the joint number of virtually generated UAVs, the DT construction cost, and the performance of multi-UAV networks. These two NNs are trained by unsupervised and reinforcement learning, both low-cost label-free training methods. Simulation results show the training cost can significantly decrease while guaranteeing the training performance. This implies that an efficient decision can be made with imperfect DTs in multi-UAV networks.

Performance Analysis of RIS-Aided Double Spatial Scattering Modulation for mmWave MIMO Systems

In this paper, we investigate a practical structure of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-based double spatial scattering modulation (DSSM) for millimeter-wave (mmWave) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. A suboptimal detector is proposed, in which the beam direction is first demodulated according to the received beam strength, and then the remaining information is demodulated by adopting the maximum likelihood algorithm. Based on the proposed suboptimal detector, we derive the conditional pairwise error probability expression. Further, the exact numerical integral and closed-form expressions of unconditional pairwise error probability (UPEP) are derived via two different approaches. To provide more insights, we derive the upper bound and asymptotic expressions of UPEP. In addition, the diversity gain of the RIS-DSSM scheme was also given. Furthermore, the union upper bound of average bit error probability (ABEP) is obtained by combining the UPEP and the number of error bits. Simulation results are provided to validate the derived upper bound and asymptotic expressions of ABEP. We found an interesting phenomenon that the ABEP performance of the proposed system-based phase shift keying is better than that of the quadrature amplitude modulation. Additionally, the performance advantage of ABEP is more significant with the increase in the number of RIS elements.

Label-free Deep Learning Driven Secure Access Selection in Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks

In Space-air-ground integrated networks (SAGIN), the inherent openness and extensive broadcast coverage expose these networks to significant eavesdropping threats. Considering the inherent co-channel interference due to spectrum sharing among multi-tier access networks in SAGIN, it can be leveraged to assist the physical layer security among heterogeneous transmissions. However, it is challenging to conduct a secrecy-oriented access strategy due to both heterogeneous resources and different eavesdropping models. In this paper, we explore secure access selection for a scenario involving multi-mode users capable of accessing satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, or base stations in the presence of eavesdroppers. Particularly, we propose a Q-network approximation based deep learning approach for selecting the optimal access strategy for maximizing the sum secrecy rate. Meanwhile, the power optimization is also carried out by an unsupervised learning approach to improve the secrecy performance. Remarkably, two neural networks are trained by unsupervised learning and Q-network approximation which are both label-free methods without knowing the optimal solution as labels. Numerical results verify the efficiency of our proposed power optimization approach and access strategy, leading to enhanced secure transmission performance.

Effectively Heterogeneous Federated Learning: A Pairing and Split Learning Based Approach

As a promising paradigm federated Learning (FL) is widely used in privacy-preserving machine learning, which allows distributed devices to collaboratively train a model while avoiding data transmission among clients. Despite its immense potential, the FL suffers from bottlenecks in training speed due to client heterogeneity, leading to escalated training latency and straggling server aggregation. To deal with this challenge, a novel split federated learning (SFL) framework that pairs clients with different computational resources is proposed, where clients are paired based on computing resources and communication rates among clients, meanwhile the neural network model is split into two parts at the logical level, and each client only computes the part assigned to it by using the SL to achieve forward inference and backward training. Moreover, to effectively deal with the client pairing problem, a heuristic greedy algorithm is proposed by reconstructing the optimization of training latency as a graph edge selection problem. Simulation results show the proposed method can significantly improve the FL training speed and achieve high performance both in independent identical distribution (IID) and Non-IID data distribution.

Distilling Knowledge from Resource Management Algorithms to Neural Networks: A Unified Training Assistance Approach

As a fundamental problem, numerous methods are dedicated to the optimization of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), in a multi-user setting. Although traditional model-based optimization methods achieve strong performance, the high complexity raises the research of neural network (NN) based approaches to trade-off the performance and complexity. To fully leverage the high performance of traditional model-based methods and the low complexity of the NN-based method, a knowledge distillation (KD) based algorithm distillation (AD) method is proposed in this paper to improve the performance and convergence speed of the NN-based method, where traditional SINR optimization methods are employed as ``teachers" to assist the training of NNs, which are ``students", thus enhancing the performance of unsupervised and reinforcement learning techniques. This approach aims to alleviate common issues encountered in each of these training paradigms, including the infeasibility of obtaining optimal solutions as labels and overfitting in supervised learning, ensuring higher convergence performance in unsupervised learning, and improving training efficiency in reinforcement learning. Simulation results demonstrate the enhanced performance of the proposed AD-based methods compared to traditional learning methods. Remarkably, this research paves the way for the integration of traditional optimization insights and emerging NN techniques in wireless communication system optimization.

Knowledge-Driven Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Computation Offloading in Cybertwin-Enabled Internet of Vehicles

By offloading computation-intensive tasks of vehicles to roadside units (RSUs), mobile edge computing (MEC) in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) can relieve the onboard computation burden. However, existing model-based task offloading methods suffer from heavy computational complexity with the increase of vehicles and data-driven methods lack interpretability. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a knowledge-driven multi-agent reinforcement learning (KMARL) approach to reduce the latency of task offloading in cybertwin-enabled IoV. Specifically, in the considered scenario, the cybertwin serves as a communication agent for each vehicle to exchange information and make offloading decisions in the virtual space. To reduce the latency of task offloading, a KMARL approach is proposed to select the optimal offloading option for each vehicle, where graph neural networks are employed by leveraging domain knowledge concerning graph-structure communication topology and permutation invariance into neural networks. Numerical results show that our proposed KMARL yields higher rewards and demonstrates improved scalability compared with other methods, benefitting from the integration of domain knowledge.

Robust Weighted Sum-Rate Maximization for Transmissive RIS Transmitter Enabled RSMA Networks

Due to the low power consumption and low cost nature of transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS),in this paper, we propose a downlink multi-user rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) architecture based on the transmissive RIS transmitter, where the channel state information (CSI) is only accquired partially. We investigate the weighted sum-rate maximization problem by jointly optimizing the power, RIS transmissive coefficients and common rate allocated to each user. Due to the coupling of optimization variables, the problem is nonconvex, and it is difficult to directly obtain the optimal solution. Hence, a block coordinate descent (BCD) algorithm based on sample average approximation (SAA) and weighted minimum mean square error (WMMSE) is proposed to tackle it. Numerical results illustrate that the transmissive RIS transmitter with ratesplitting architecture has advantages over conventional space division multiple access (SDMA) and non-orthgonal multiple access (NOMA).