National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Abstract:Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is regarded as a key enabling platform for low-altitude economy, due to its advantages such as 3D maneuverability, flexible deployment, and LoS air-to-air/ground communication links. In particular, the intrinsic high mobility renders UAV especially suitable for operating as a movable antenna (MA) from the sky. In this paper, by exploiting the flexible mobility of UAV swarm and antenna position adjustment of MA, we propose a novel UAV swarm enabled two-level MA system, where UAVs not only individually deploy a local MA array, but also form a larger-scale MA system with their individual MA arrays via swarm coordination. We formulate a general optimization problem to maximize the minimum achievable rate over all ground UEs, by jointly optimizing the 3D UAV swarm placement positions, their individual MAs' positions, and receive beamforming for different UEs. We first consider the special case where each UAV has only one antenna, under different scenarios of one single UE, two UEs, and arbitrary number of UEs. In particular, for the two-UE case, we derive the optimal UAV swarm placement positions in closed-form that achieves IUI-free communication, where the UAV swarm forms a uniform sparse array (USA) satisfying collision avoidance constraint. While for the general case with arbitrary number of UEs, we propose an efficient alternating optimization algorithm to solve the formulated non-convex optimization problem. Then, we extend the results to the case where each UAV is equipped with multiple antennas. Numerical results verify that the proposed low-altitude UAV swarm enabled MA system significantly outperforms various benchmark schemes, thanks to the exploitation of two-level mobility to create more favorable channel conditions for multi-UE communications.
Abstract:Decision Transformer (DT) has recently demonstrated strong generalizability in dynamic resource allocation within unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks, compared to conventional deep reinforcement learning (DRL). However, its performance is hindered due to zero-padding for varying state dimensions, inability to manage long-term energy constraint, and challenges in acquiring expert samples for few-shot fine-tuning in new scenarios. To overcome these limitations, we propose an attention-enhanced prompt Decision Transformer (APDT) framework to optimize trajectory planning and user scheduling, aiming to minimize the average age of information (AoI) under long-term energy constraint in UAV-assisted Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Specifically, we enhance the convenional DT framework by incorporating an attention mechanism to accommodate varying numbers of terrestrial users, introducing a prompt mechanism based on short trajectory demonstrations for rapid adaptation to new scenarios, and designing a token-assisted method to address the UAV's long-term energy constraint. The APDT framework is first pre-trained on offline datasets and then efficiently generalized to new scenarios. Simulations demonstrate that APDT achieves twice faster in terms of convergence rate and reduces average AoI by $8\%$ compared to conventional DT.
Abstract:Hypergraphs effectively model higher-order relationships in natural phenomena, capturing complex interactions beyond pairwise connections. We introduce a novel hypergraph message passing framework inspired by interacting particle systems, where hyperedges act as fields inducing shared node dynamics. By incorporating attraction, repulsion, and Allen-Cahn forcing terms, particles of varying classes and features achieve class-dependent equilibrium, enabling separability through the particle-driven message passing. We investigate both first-order and second-order particle system equations for modeling these dynamics, which mitigate over-smoothing and heterophily thus can capture complete interactions. The more stable second-order system permits deeper message passing. Furthermore, we enhance deterministic message passing with stochastic element to account for interaction uncertainties. We prove theoretically that our approach mitigates over-smoothing by maintaining a positive lower bound on the hypergraph Dirichlet energy during propagation and thus to enable hypergraph message passing to go deep. Empirically, our models demonstrate competitive performance on diverse real-world hypergraph node classification tasks, excelling on both homophilic and heterophilic datasets.
Abstract:The pursuit of rate maximization in wireless communication frequently encounters substantial challenges associated with user fairness. This paper addresses these challenges by exploring a novel power allocation approach for delay optimization, utilizing graph neural networks (GNNs)-based reinforcement learning (RL) in device-to-device (D2D) communication. The proposed approach incorporates not only channel state information but also factors such as packet delay, the number of backlogged packets, and the number of transmitted packets into the components of the state information. We adopt a centralized RL method, where a central controller collects and processes the state information. The central controller functions as an agent trained using the proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm. To better utilize topology information in the communication network and enhance the generalization of the proposed method, we embed GNN layers into both the actor and critic networks of the PPO algorithm. This integration allows for efficient parameter updates of GNNs and enables the state information to be parameterized as a low-dimensional embedding, which is leveraged by the agent to optimize power allocation strategies. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively reduces average delay while ensuring user fairness, outperforms baseline methods, and exhibits scalability and generalization capability.
Abstract:Large AI models (LAMs) have shown strong potential in wireless communication tasks, but their practical deployment remains hindered by latency and computational constraints. In this work, we focus on the challenge of integrating LAMs into channel state information (CSI) feedback for frequency-division duplex (FDD) massive multiple-intput multiple-output (MIMO) systems. To this end, we propose two offline frameworks, namely site-specific LAM-enhanced CSI feedback (SSLCF) and multi-scenario LAM-enhanced CSI feedback (MSLCF), that incorporate LAMs into the codebook-based CSI feedback paradigm without requiring real-time inference. Specifically, SSLCF generates a site-specific enhanced codebook through fine-tuning on locally collected CSI data, while MSLCF improves generalization by pre-generating a set of environment-aware codebooks. Both of these frameworks build upon the LAM with vision-based backbone, which is pre-trained on large-scale image datasets and fine-tuned with CSI data to generate customized codebooks. This resulting network named LVM4CF captures the structural similarity between CSI and image, allowing the LAM to refine codewords tailored to the specific environments. To optimize the codebook refinement capability of LVM4CF under both single- and dual-side deployment modes, we further propose corresponding training and inference algorithms. Simulation results show that our frameworks significantly outperform existing schemes in both reconstruction accuracy and system throughput, without introducing additional inference latency or computational overhead. These results also support the core design methodology of our proposed frameworks, extracting the best and discarding the rest, as a promising pathway for integrating LAMs into future wireless systems.
Abstract:Judicious resource allocation can effectively enhance federated learning (FL) training performance in wireless networks by addressing both system and statistical heterogeneity. However, existing strategies typically rely on block fading assumptions, which overlooks rapid channel fluctuations within each round of FL gradient uploading, leading to a degradation in FL training performance. Therefore, this paper proposes a small-scale-fading-aware resource allocation strategy using a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) framework. Specifically, we establish a one-step convergence bound of the FL algorithm and formulate the resource allocation problem as a decentralized partially observable Markov decision process (Dec-POMDP), which is subsequently solved using the QMIX algorithm. In our framework, each client serves as an agent that dynamically determines spectrum and power allocations within each coherence time slot, based on local observations and a reward derived from the convergence analysis. The MARL setting reduces the dimensionality of the action space and facilitates decentralized decision-making, enhancing the scalability and practicality of the solution. Experimental results demonstrate that our QMIX-based resource allocation strategy significantly outperforms baseline methods across various degrees of statistical heterogeneity. Additionally, ablation studies validate the critical importance of incorporating small-scale fading dynamics, highlighting its role in optimizing FL performance.
Abstract:This study presents an advanced wireless system that embeds target recognition within reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided communication systems, powered by cuttingedge deep learning innovations. Such a system faces the challenge of fine-tuning both the RIS phase shifts and neural network (NN) parameters, since they intricately interdepend on each other to accomplish the recognition task. To address these challenges, we propose an intelligent recognizer that strategically harnesses every piece of prior action responses, thereby ingeniously multiplexing downlink signals to facilitate environment sensing. Specifically, we design a novel NN based on the long short-term memory (LSTM) architecture and the physical channel model. The NN iteratively captures and fuses information from previous measurements and adaptively customizes RIS configurations to acquire the most relevant information for the recognition task in subsequent moments. Tailored dynamically, these configurations adapt to the scene, task, and target specifics. Simulation results reveal that our proposed method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art method, while resulting in minimal impacts on communication performance, even as sensing is performed simultaneously.
Abstract:The low-altitude economy has emerged as a critical focus for future economic development, emphasizing the urgent need for flight activity surveillance utilizing the existing sensing capabilities of mobile cellular networks. Traditional monostatic or localization-based sensing methods, however, encounter challenges in fusing sensing results and matching channel parameters. To address these challenges, we propose an innovative approach that directly draws the radio images of the low-altitude space, leveraging its inherent sparsity with compressed sensing (CS)-based algorithms and the cooperation of multiple base stations. Furthermore, recognizing that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are randomly distributed in space, we introduce a physics-embedded learning method to overcome off-grid issues inherent in CS-based models. Additionally, an online hard example mining method is incorporated into the design of the loss function, enabling the network to adaptively concentrate on the samples bearing significant discrepancy with the ground truth, thereby enhancing its ability to detect the rare UAVs within the expansive low-altitude space. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the imaging-based low-altitude surveillance approach, with the proposed physics-embedded learning algorithm significantly outperforming traditional CS-based methods under off-grid conditions.
Abstract:The distributed upper 6 GHz (U6G) extra-large scale antenna array (ELAA) is a key enabler for future wireless communication systems, offering higher throughput and wider coverage, similar to existing ELAA systems, while effectively mitigating unaffordable complexity and hardware overhead. Uncertain channel characteristics, however, present significant bottleneck problems that hinder the hardware structure and algorithm design of the distributed U6G ELAA system. In response, we construct a U6G channel sounder and carry out extensive measurement campaigns across various typical scenarios. Initially, U6G channel characteristics, particularly small-scale fading characteristics, are unveiled and compared across different scenarios. Subsequently, the U6G ELAA channel characteristics are analyzed using a virtual array comprising 64 elements. Furthermore, inspired by the potential for distributed processing, we investigate U6G ELAA channel characteristics from the perspectives of subarrays and sub-bands, including subarray-wise nonstationarities, consistencies, far-field approximations, and sub-band characteristics. Through a combination of analysis and measurement validation, several insights and benefits, particularly suitable for distributed processing in U6G ELAA systems, are revealed, which provides practical validation for the deployment of U6G ELAA systems.
Abstract:Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is one of the key usage scenarios for future sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication networks, where communication and sensing (C&S) services are simultaneously provided through shared wireless spectrum, signal processing modules, hardware, and network infrastructure. Such an integration is strengthened by the technology trends in 6G, such as denser network nodes, larger antenna arrays, wider bandwidths, higher frequency bands, and more efficient utilization of spectrum and hardware resources, which incentivize and empower enhanced sensing capabilities. As the dominant waveform used in contemporary communication systems, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is still expected to be a very competitive technology for 6G, rendering it necessary to thoroughly investigate the potential and challenges of OFDM ISAC. Thus, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive tutorial overview of ISAC systems enabled by large-scale multi-input multi-output (MIMO) and OFDM technologies and to discuss their fundamental principles, advantages, and enabling signal processing methods. To this end, a unified MIMO-OFDM ISAC system model is first introduced, followed by four frameworks for estimating parameters across the spatial, delay, and Doppler domains, including parallel one-domain, sequential one-domain, joint two-domain, and joint three-domain parameter estimation. Next, sensing algorithms and performance analyses are presented in detail for far-field scenarios where uniform plane wave (UPW) propagation is valid, followed by their extensions to near-field scenarios where uniform spherical wave (USW) characteristics need to be considered. Finally, this paper points out open challenges and outlines promising avenues for future research on MIMO-OFDM ISAC.