Achievable Communication Rate Research Articles

Rate-Region Characterization and Channel Estimation for Cell-Free Symbiotic Radio Communications

Cell-free massive MIMO and symbiotic radio communication have been recently proposed as the promising beyond fifth-generation (B5G) networking architecture and transmission technology, respectively. To reap the benefits of both, this paper studies cell-free symbiotic radio communication systems, where a number of cell-free access points (APs) cooperatively send primary information to a receiver, and simultaneously support the passive backscattering communication of the secondary backscatter device (BD). We first derive the achievable communication rates of the active primary user and passive secondary user under the assumption of perfect channel state information (CSI), based on which the transmit beamforming of the cell-free APs is optimized to characterize the achievable rate-region of cell-free symbiotic communication systems. Furthermore, to practically acquire the CSI of the active and passive channels, we propose an efficient channel estimation method based on two-phase uplink-training, and the achievable rate-region taking into account CSI estimation errors is further characterized. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of our proposed beamforming and channel estimation methods.

Vibrational Radar Backscatter Communications Theory and Bound

Vibrational radar backscatter communication (VRBC) utilizes millimeter-wave radar vibrometry to receive message signals from vibrating surfaces. So long as multiple transponding surfaces are separable by the system radar in angle and/or range, VRBC can simultaneously detect, isolate, and decode messages from these multiple sources. For anything-to-vehicle communications, VRBC is therefore a scalable, low-latency approach which leverages existing automotive radars to increase situational awareness without requiring any additional use of the RF spectrum. In this paper, we describe the modeling and processing of VRBC signals. We show that knowledge of surface resonances and coding constraints can be used to improve system performance by incorporating them into a Markov model. We provide insight into the rate capabilities of VRBC by providing a theoretical upper bound that incorporates the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI). Simulation results compare our upper bound to achievable communication rates using single symbol vs sequence detection maximum likelihood methods for a given symbol length, set of symbol excitations, and VRBC radar pulse repetition interval (PRI).

Jamming and Eavesdropping Defense Scheme Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning in Autonomous Vehicle Networks

As a legacy from conventional wireless services, illegal eavesdropping is regarded as one of the critical security challenges in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) network. Our work considers the use of Distributed Kalman Filtering (DKF) and Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) techniques to improve anti-eavesdropping communication capacity and mitigate jamming interference. Aiming to improve the security performance against smart eavesdropper and jammer, we first develop a DKF algorithm that is capable of tracking the attacker more accurately by sharing state estimates among adjacent nodes. Then, a design problem for controlling transmission power and selecting communication channel is established while ensuring communication quality requirements of the authorized vehicular user. Since the eavesdropping and jamming model is uncertain and dynamic, a hierarchical Deep Q-Network (DQN)-based architecture is developed to design the anti-eavesdropping power control and possibly channel selection policy. Specifically, the optimal power control scheme without prior information of the eavesdropping behavior can be quickly achieved first. Based on the system secrecy rate assessment, the channel selection process is then performed when necessary. Simulation results confirm that our jamming and eavesdropping defense technique enhances the secrecy rate as well as achievable communication rate compared with currently available techniques.

Vehicle position prediction systems and performance equalization

This article will first solve the problem of beam prediction for the link between the vehicle and the communication awareness integrated system. The dual-function communication perception integrated signal emitted by the roadside module (RSM) is used for beam tracking. At the same time, the position parameters of the vehicle are estimated through the reflected echo signal. Based on the above estimation, we put forward a method to forecast the location of the cars. After adding the equalization parameter, it determines the weight of the perception and communication performance in the communication perception integrated system. By equalizing the communication signal power and the radar detection power, the system can maintain high detection accuracy while ensuring better communication power. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is verified by simulation experiments, and the experimental results show that this method is better than the traditional scheme in terms of achievable communication rate.

OTFS vs. OFDM in the Presence of Sparsity: A Fair Comparison

Many recent works in the literature declare that Orthogonal Time-Frequency-Space (OTFS) modulation is a promising candidate technology for high mobility communication scenarios. However, a truly fair comparison with its direct concurrent and widely used Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation has not yet been provided. In this paper, we present such a fair comparison between the two digital modulation formats in terms of achievable communication rate. In this context, we explicitly address the problem of channel estimation by considering, for each modulation, a pilot scheme and the associated channel estimation algorithm specifically adapted to sparse channels in the Doppler-delay domain, targeting the optimization of the pilot overhead to maximize the overall achievable rate. In our achievable rate analysis we consider also the presence of a guard interval or cyclic prefix. The results are supported by numerical simulations, for different time-frequency selective channels including multiple scattering components and under non-perfect channel state information resulting from the considered pilot schemes. This work does not claim to establish in a fully definitive way which is the best modulation format, since such choice depends on many other features which are outside the scope of this work (e.g., legacy, intellectual property, ease and know-how for implementation, and many other criteria). Nevertheless, we provide the foundations to properly compare multi-carrier communication systems in terms of their information theoretic achievable rate potential, within meaningful and sensible assumptions on the channel models and on the receiver complexity (both in terms of channel estimation and in terms of soft-output symbol detection).

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Rich Scattering Wireless Communications: Recent Experiments, Challenges, and Opportunities

Recent advances in the fabrication and experimentation of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) have motivated the concept of the smart radio environment, according to which the propagation of information-bearing waveforms in the wireless medium is amenable to programmability. Although the vast majority of recent experimental research on RIS-empowered wireless communications gravitates around narrowband beamforming in quasi-free space, RISs are foreseen to revolutionize wideband wireless connectivity in dense urban as well as indoor scenarios, which are usually characterized as strongly reverberant environments exhibiting severe multipath conditions. In this article, capitalizing on recent physics-driven experimental explorations of RIS-empowered wave propagation control in complex scattering cavities, we identify the potential of the spatiotemporal control offered by RISs to boost wireless communications in rich scattering channels via two case studies. First, an RIS is deployed to shape the multipath channel impulse response, which is shown to enable higher achievable communication rates. Second, the RIS-tunable propagation environment is leveraged as an analog multiplexer to localize non-cooperative objects using wave fingerprints, even when they are outside the line of sight. Future research challenges and opportunities in the algorithmic design and experimentation of smart rich scattering wireless environments enabled by RISs for sixth Generation (6G) wireless communications are discussed.

Strong Coordination Over Noisy Channels

We study the problem of strong coordination of the actions of two nodes $X$ and $Y$ that communicate over a discrete memoryless channel (DMC) such that the actions follow a prescribed joint probability distribution. We propose two novel random coding schemes and a polar coding scheme for this noisy strong coordination problem, and derive inner bounds for the respective strong coordination capacity region. The first scheme is a joint coordination-channel coding scheme that utilizes the randomness provided by the DMC to reduce the amount of local randomness required to generate the sequence of actions at Node $Y$. Based on this random coding scheme, we provide a characterization of the capacity region for two special cases of the noisy strong coordination setup, namely, when the actions at Node $Y$ are determined by Node $X$ and when the DMC is a deterministic channel. The second scheme exploits separate coordination and channel coding where local randomness is extracted from the channel after decoding. The third scheme is a joint coordination-channel polar coding scheme for strong coordination. We show that polar codes are able to achieve the established inner bound to the noisy strong coordination capacity region and thus provide a constructive alternative to a random coding proof. Our polar coding scheme also offers a constructive solution to a channel simulation problem where a DMC and shared randomness are employed together to simulate another DMC. Finally, by leveraging the random coding results for this problem, we present an example in which the proposed joint scheme is able to strictly outperform the separate scheme in terms of achievable communication rate for the same amount of injected randomness into both systems. Thus, we establish the sub-optimality of the separation of strong coordination and channel coding with respect to the communication rate over the DMC.

A Tutorial on Joint Radar and Communication Transmission for Vehicular Networks—Part III: Predictive Beamforming Without State Models

In Part I and II of this three-part tutorial on dual-functional radar-communication (DFRC) design for vehicular networks, we overviewed the basics of radar and communication systems and the state of the art in DFRC respectively. As Part III of the tutorial, we address the issue of predictive beamforming for the vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links without the need for explicit state evolution models. The beam tracking is done with the aid of the dual-functional radar-communication signals transmitted by the road side unit (RSU). The vehicle's location parameters are estimated by exploiting the reflected echoes signals. Given these estimates, we propose a prediction method to predict the next position of the vehicle, without specifying a state model. Finally, we verify the superiority of the proposed approaches via numerical simulations, which show that the proposed technique outperforms the conventional benchmark schemes in terms of the achievable communication rate.

Playing games with multiple access channels

Communication networks have multiple users, each sending and receiving messages. A multiple access channel (MAC) models multiple senders transmitting to a single receiver, such as the uplink from many mobile phones to a single base station. The optimal performance of a MAC is quantified by a capacity region of simultaneously achievable communication rates. We study the two-sender classical MAC, the simplest and best-understood network, and find a surprising richness in both a classical and quantum context. First, we find that quantum entanglement shared between senders can substantially boost the capacity of a classical MAC. Second, we find that optimal performance of a MAC with bounded-size inputs may require unbounded amounts of entanglement. Third, determining whether a perfect communication rate is achievable using finite-dimensional entanglement is undecidable. Finally, we show that evaluating the capacity region of a two-sender classical MAC is in fact NP-hard.

Throughput and Delay Analysis of HARQ With Code Combining Over Double Rayleigh Fading Channels

This paper proposes the use of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) with code combining (HARQ-CC) to offer reliable communications over double Rayleigh channels. The double Rayleigh fading channel is of particular interest to vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems as well as amplify-and-forward relaying and keyhole channels. This paper studies the performance of HARQ-CC over double Rayleigh channels from an information theoretic perspective. Analytical approximations are derived for the $\epsilon$ -outage capacity, the average number of transmissions, and the throughput of HARQ-CC. Moreover, we evaluate the delay experienced by Poisson-arriving packets for HARQ-CC. We provide analytical expressions for the average waiting time, the packets sojourn time, the average consumed power, and the energy efficiency. In our investigation, we take into account the impact of imperfect feedback on different performance metrics. Additionally, we explore the tradeoff between energy efficiency and the throughput. The proposed scheme is shown to maintain the outage probability below a specified threshold $\epsilon$ , which ensures the link reliability. Meanwhile, HARQ-CC adapts implicitly the transmission rate to the channel conditions such that the throughput is maximized. Our results demonstrate that HARQ-CC allows improving the achievable communication rate compared to fixed time diversity schemes. To maximize the throughput of HARQ-CC, the rate per HARQ round should be less than the rate required to meet the outage constraint. Our investigation of the performance of HARQ-CC over Rayleigh and double Rayleigh channels shows that double Rayleigh channels have a higher severity of fading and result in a larger degradation of the throughput. Our analysis reveals that HARQ with incremental redundancy achieves a larger throughput compared to HARQ-CC, whereas HARQ-CC is simpler to implement, has a lower decoding complexity, and requires less memory resources.

Performance and structure of single-mode bosonic codes

The early Gottesman, Kitaev, and Preskill (GKP) proposal for encoding a qubit in an oscillator has recently been followed by cat- and binomial-code proposals. Numerically optimized codes have also been proposed, and we introduce new codes of this type here. These codes have yet to be compared using the same error model; we provide such a comparison by determining the entanglement fidelity of all codes with respect to the bosonic pure-loss channel (i.e., photon loss) after the optimal recovery operation. We then compare achievable communication rates of the combined encoding-error-recovery channel by calculating the channel's hashing bound for each code. Cat and binomial codes perform similarly, with binomial codes outperforming cat codes at small loss rates. Despite not being designed to protect against the pure-loss channel, GKP codes significantly outperform all other codes for most values of the loss rate. We show that the performance of GKP and some binomial codes increases monotonically with increasing average photon number of the codes. In order to corroborate our numerical evidence of the cat/binomial/GKP order of performance occurring at small loss rates, we analytically evaluate the quantum error-correction conditions of those codes. For GKP codes, we find an essential singularity in the entanglement fidelity in the limit of vanishing loss rate. In addition to comparing the codes, we draw parallels between binomial codes and discrete-variable systems. First, we characterize one- and two-mode binomial as well as multi-qubit permutation-invariant codes in terms of spin-coherent states. Such a characterization allows us to introduce check operators and error-correction procedures for binomial codes. Second, we introduce a generalization of spin-coherent states, extending our characterization to qudit binomial codes and yielding a new multi-qudit code.

Optimal attacks on qubit-based Quantum Key Recycling

Quantum Key Recycling (QKR) is a quantum cryptographic primitive that allows one to reuse keys in an unconditionally secure way. By removing the need to repeatedly generate new keys, it improves communication efficiency. Škorić and de Vries recently proposed a QKR scheme based on 8-state encoding (four bases). It does not require quantum computers for encryption/decryption but only single-qubit operations. We provide a missing ingredient in the security analysis of this scheme in the case of noisy channels: accurate upper bounds on the required amount of privacy amplification. We determine optimal attacks against the message and against the key, for 8-state encoding as well as 4-state and 6-state conjugate coding. We provide results in terms of min-entropy loss as well as accessible (Shannon) information. We show that the Shannon entropy analysis for 8-state encoding reduces to the analysis of quantum key distribution, whereas 4-state and 6-state suffer from additional leaks that make them less effective. From the optimal attacks we compute the required amount of privacy amplification and hence the achievable communication rate (useful information per qubit) of qubit-based QKR. Overall, 8-state encoding yields the highest communication rates.

Underwater Acoustic Carrier Aggregation: Achievable Rate and Energy-Efficiency Evaluation

In this work, carrier aggregation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based underwater acoustic cellular networks is proposed, and its achievable communication rate and energy efficiency are evaluated. This technique improves the total throughput of OFDM using an expanded bandwidth, where multiple carriers are aggregated for data transmission from one transmitter. In this paper, a study is presented for a practical communication system consisting of a surface buoy station mounting single transducer and an autonomous underwater vehicle also with single transducer. The results are evaluated in a simulation environment as well as by field experiments. The simulation is first performed on a wide bandwidth up to ${\text{500}}\;{\text{kHz}}$ , where the results indicate that carrier aggregation can greatly improve the achievable underwater communication rate for distances up to ${\text{5}}\;{\text{km}}$ . It is further found by simulation that the maximum bandwidth configuration does not achieve the optimal energy efficiency; instead, there is an optimal bandwidth that can lead to such optimal energy efficiency. Further measurement results obtained in sea trials with a specifically designed sounding sequence are then presented. The achievable rate and energy efficiency are evaluated by the field measurement data. The measurement results provide insights into the performance of the system under narrow bandwidth settings.

Joint Design of Overlaid Communication Systems and Pulsed Radars

The focus of this paper is on co-existence between a communication system and a pulsed radar sharing the same bandwidth. Based on the fact that the interference generated by the radar onto the communication receiver is intermittent and depends on the density of scattering objects (such as, e.g., targets), we first show that the communication system is equivalent to a set of independent parallel channels, whereby pre-coding on each channel can be introduced as a new degree of freedom. We introduce a new figure of merit, named the {\em compound rate}, which is a convex combination of rates with and without interference, to be optimized under constraints concerning the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (including {\em signal-dependent} interference due to clutter) experienced by the radar and obviously the powers emitted by the two systems: the degrees of freedom are the radar waveform and the afore-mentioned encoding matrix for the communication symbols. We provide closed-form solutions for the optimum transmit policies for both systems under two basic models for the scattering produced by the radar onto the communication receiver, and account for possible correlation of the signal-independent fraction of the interference impinging on the radar. We also discuss the region of the achievable communication rates with and without interference. A thorough performance assessment shows the potentials and the limitations of the proposed co-existing architecture.

Interactive function computation via polar coding

In a series of papers (2011---2013) N. Ma and P. Ishwar considered a range of distributed source coding problems that arise in the context of interactive computation of functions, characterizing the region of achievable communication rates. We consider the problems of interactive computation of functions by two terminals and interactive computation in a collocated network, showing that the rate regions for both these problems can be achieved using several rounds of polar-coded transmissions.

Approaching coherent performance in differential detection via diversity.

Digital self-coherent detection (DSCD) can be employed to approach coherent performance in optical receivers by digitally reconstructing the samples of the electrical field without employing a local oscillator. One major deficiency of this scheme is the abrupt loss of field reconstruction, and consequently phase tracking, immediately following the occurrence of a low intensity sample. A cross-polarization DSCD scheme is introduced to mitigate this problem via diversity. The proposed scheme, termed X-DSCD, provides significantly improved signal reconstruction capabilities while doubling the achievable communication rate as compared to the original single-polarization DSCD scheme: two different and independent symbol streams are transmitted via two linear polarizations. X-DSCD performance is analyzed for the case of two cross-polarized, Gaussian signals. The analysis is supported by simulation results. Introducing coding into the system, the error performance attained by X-DSCD is shown to potentially approach that of a coherent receiver.

A communication theoretical analysis of FRET-based mobile ad hoc molecular nanonetworks.

Nanonetworks refer to a group of nanosized machines with very basic operational capabilities communicating to each other in order to accomplish more complex tasks such as in-body drug delivery, or chemical defense. Realizing reliable and high-rate communication between these nanomachines is a fundamental problem for the practicality of these nanonetworks. Recently, we have proposed a molecular communication method based on Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) which is a nonradiative excited state energy transfer phenomenon observed among fluorescent molecules, i.e., fluorophores. We have modeled the FRET-based communication channel considering the fluorophores as single-molecular immobile nanomachines, and shown its reliability at high rates, and practicality at the current stage of nanotechnology. In this study, for the first time in the literature, we investigate the network of mobile nanomachines communicating through FRET. We introduce two novel mobile molecular nanonetworks: FRET-based mobile molecular sensor/actor nanonetwork (FRET-MSAN) which is a distributed system of mobile fluorophores acting as sensor or actor node; and FRET-based mobile ad hoc molecular nanonetwork (FRET-MAMNET) which consists of fluorophore-based nanotransmitter, nanoreceivers and nanorelays. We model the single message propagation based on birth-death processes with continuous time Markov chains. We evaluate the performance of FRET-MSAN and FRET-MAMNET in terms of successful transmission probability and mean extinction time of the messages, system throughput, channel capacity and achievable communication rates.

Nanoscale Communication With Molecular Arrays in Nanonetworks

Molecular communication is a promising nanoscale communication paradigm that enables nanomachines to exchange information by using molecules as communication carrier. Up to now, the molecular communication channel between a transmitter nanomachine (TN) and a receiver nanomachine (RN) has been modeled as either concentration channel or timing channel. However, these channel models necessitate exact time synchronization of the nanomachines and provide a relatively low communication bandwidth. In this paper, the Molecular ARray-based COmmunication (MARCO) scheme is proposed, in which the transmission order of different molecules is used to convey molecular information without any need for time synchronization. The MARCO channel model is first theoretically derived, and the intersymbol interference and error probabilities are obtained. Based on the error probability, achievable communication rates are analytically obtained. Numerical results and performance comparisons reveal that MARCO provides significantly higher communication rate, i.e., on the scale of 100 Kbps, than the previously proposed molecular communication models without any need for synchronization. More specifically, MARCO can provide more than 250 Kbps of molecular communication rate if intersymbol time and internode distance are set to 2 μs and 2 nm, respectively.

Scaling laws and techniques in decentralised processing of interfered Gaussian channels

The scaling laws of the achievable communication rates and the corresponding upper bounds of distributed reception in the presence of an interfering signal are investigated. The scheme includes one transmitter communicating to a remote destination via two relays, which forward messages to the remote destination through reliable links with finite capacities. The relays receive the transmission along with some unknown interference. We focus on three common settings for distributed reception, wherein the scaling laws of the capacity (the prelog as the power of the transmitter and the interference are taken to infinity) are completely characterized. It is shown in most cases that to overcome the interference, a definite amount of information about the interference needs to be forwarded along with the desired message, to the destination. The upper bounds results are derived using the cut-set along with a new bounding technique, which relies on multiletter expressions. The latter is demonstrated to be useful in a scenario where the cut-set upper bound happens to be strictly loose. The lower bound results are derived using random-coding arguments, wherein some interesting cases combining lattices are found to be beneficiary, and used to determine the scaling laws of the achievable rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.