Multiple-input Single-output Research Articles

Fundamental Limits of Intelligent Reflecting Surface Aided Multiuser Broadcast Channel

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has recently received significant attention in wireless networks owing to its ability to smartly control the wireless propagation through passive reflection. Although prior works have employed the IRS to enhance the system performance under various setups, the fundamental capacity limits of an IRS aided multi-antenna multi-user system have not yet been characterized. Motivated by this, we investigate an IRS aided multiple-input single-output (MISO) broadcast channel by considering the capacity-achieving dirty paper coding (DPC) scheme and dynamic beamforming configurations. We first propose a bisection based framework to characterize its capacity region by optimally solving the sum-rate maximization problem under a set of rate constraints, which is also applicable to characterize the achievable rate region with the zero-forcing (ZF) scheme. Interestingly, it is rigorously proved that dynamic beamforming is able to enlarge the achievable rate region of ZF if the IRS phase-shifts cannot achieve fully orthogonal channels, whereas the attained gains become marginal due to the reduction of the channel correlations induced by smartly adjusting the IRS phase-shifts. The result implies that employing the IRS is able to reduce the demand for implementing dynamic beamforming. Finally, we analytically prove that the sum-rate achieved by the IRS aided ZF is capable of approaching that of the IRS aided DPC with a sufficiently large IRS in practice. Simulation results shed light on the impact of the IRS on transceiver designs and validate our theoretical findings, which provide useful guidelines to practical systems by indicating that replacing sophisticated schemes with easy-implementation schemes would only result in slight performance loss.

Deep Learning Framework for Two-Way MISO Wireless-Powered Interference Channels

In this paper, we present a realistic and novel protocol for two-way communication in multiple-input-single-output (MISO) wireless-powered interference channels, namely, a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) then wireless information transfer (WIT) protocol. In the protocol considered, transmitters first perform SWIPT in a forward link (FL) and receivers and then execute WIT using the harvested energy in a backward link (BL). Given that the operation of SWIPT in the FL affects the performance of WIT in the BL, our aim is to find a resource allocation strategy that maximizes the sum spectral efficiency (SE) of the FL and BL, which requires the joint optimization of the transmit beamforming vector, transmit power, and energy harvesting (EH) ratio in the FL and the receive beamforming vector in the BL. To deal with the non-convexity of the optimization problem, a deep learning (DL) framework is devised, in which the optimal resource allocation strategy is approximated by a well-designed deep neural network (DNN) model consisting of six independent DNN modules where the sigmoid and softmax functions are jointly utilized to properly model each control parameter. Furthermore, a two-stage training method is proposed where the DNN model is initialized using suboptimal solutions that are found using a low complexity algorithm in a supervised manner before it is fine-tuned using the main training based on unsupervised learning. Through intensive simulations performed in various environments, we confirm that the proposed method improves the training performance of the DNN model while reducing the training overhead. As a result, the proposed DL-based resource allocation achieves a near-optimal performance in terms of the sum SE with a low computation time.

Design and analysis of multiple input single output converter for hybrid renewable energy system with energy storage capability

This paper proposes the design and analysis of a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) DC-DC converter suitable for a hybrid renewable energy system with energy storage capability. The converter design and control strategy validated in this research can be used to regulate the output dc voltage obtained from multiple-source renewable energy systems. The design is realized using a non-isolated double boost converter as it can handle bidirectional power flow at the storage port and has other advantages like compact structure, reduced number of components, and double boosting capability. The converter can also work without transformers, enabling the input renewable energy sources to operate individually. An inverted decoupler control strategy is adopted in the design of this novel converter. Mathematical models were developed to obtain the decoupler matrix, and the proposed control strategy is utilized to analyze the output. Simulations were performed on MISO converters with load and reference variations and is validated with the prototype. The current ripple percentage at the dual source side is found to be reduced by 2.6%. Also, the rise time, settling time, and percent overshoot of the output voltage were reduced by 0.03 s, 45 ms, and 3.6%, respectively. The performance of the proposed MISO converter is validated on a 50 W hardware prototype. The results validate the MISO converter's superior dynamic performance, output voltage regulation and reduced dual source ripple current, all of which are in agreement to the results of the simulation. A comprehensive comparison with the traditional controller is also conducted to further illustrate the advantages of the proposed inverted decoupler. The inverted decoupler validated in this work can be effectively used in hybrid renewable energy systems with energy storage capability, as it is found to be immune to the disturbances from the source end.

Low Complexity Detection of Spatial Modulation Aided OTFS in Doubly-Selective Channels

A spatial modulation-aided orthogonal time frequency space (SM-OTFS) scheme is proposed for high-Doppler scenarios, which relies on a low-complexity distance-based detection algorithm. We first derive the delay-Doppler (DD) domain input-output relationship of our SM-OTFS system by exploiting an SM mapper, followed by characterizing the doubly-selective channels considered. Then we propose a distance-based ordering subspace check detector (DOSCD) exploiting the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">a priori</i> information of the transmit symbol vector. Moreover, we derive the discrete-input continuous-output memoryless channel (DCMC) capacity of the system. Finally, our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed SM-OTFS system outperforms the conventional single-input-multiple-output (SIMO)-OTFS system, and that the DOSCD conceived is capable of striking an attractive bit error ratio (BER) vs. complexity trade-off.

Piecewise-DRL: Joint Beamforming Optimization for RIS-Assisted MU-MISO Communication System

With the widespread connectivity of everyday devices realized by the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), communication between users of different devices has become increasingly close. In practical scenarios, obstacles present between the transceiver may cause a deterioration in the quality of the received signals. Therefore, the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is employed to create virtual Line-of-Sight (LoS) channels in an IoT network. Specifically, this paper aims at maximizing the sum-rate of the RIS-assisted multi-user multiple input single output (MU-MISO) communication systems by jointly optimizing the phase shift matrix of the RIS and transmit beamforming. To solve the formulated non-convex problem, a piecewise-deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm is proposed in this paper. Unlike the existing alternative optimization (AO) algorithms, the proposed algorithm avoids falling into the local optimal by using an exploration mechanism. Moreover, piecewise-DRL can reduce the action dimension, allowing the algorithm to obtain faster convergence. Simultaneously, this algorithm also ensures that the parameters of the two-part networks are updated to generate a larger system sum-rate by unsupervised joint optimization. Simulations in various circumstances reveal that the proposed approach is more robust and presents better stability and faster convergence than previous state-of-the-art algorithms while obtaining competitive performance.

Online deep learning based energy efficient optimization for IRS-assisted eMBB and URLLC services

In this paper, we consider a downlink multiple-input single-output (MISO) system for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) services assisted by intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). We formulate an optimization problem which aims at maximizing energy efficiency (EE) by jointly optimizing the beamforming vectors at the BS, IRS reflection coefficients matrix and resource allocation while satisfying the requirement of quality of service (QoS). The EE maximization problem is non-convex and contains various constraints. In this paper, a primal–dual online deep learning (PDODL) algorithm is proposed to tackle this issue. Specifically, we transform the original problem into the primal–dual problem by integrating constraints into the objective function. Then, online deep learning (DL) algorithm is adopted where the optimization variables are viewed as the network parameters which are further expressed in the form of unconstrained counterparts. The PDODL algorithm takes the objective function of the primal–dual problem as loss function because its decrease through network training is equal to the solving process of the optimization problem. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and IRS can significantly improve the EE performance of the system.

Design of Multi-User Noncoherent Massive SIMO Systems for Scalable URLLC.

This paper develops and optimizes a non-orthogonal and noncoherent multi-user massive single-input multiple-output (SIMO) framework, with the objective of enabling scalable ultra-reliable low-latency communications (sURLLC) in Beyond-5G (B5G)/6G wireless communication systems. In this framework, the huge diversity gain associated with the large-scale antenna array in the massive SIMO system is leveraged to ensure ultra-high reliability. To reduce the overhead and latency induced by the channel estimation process, we advocate for the noncoherent communication technique, which does not need the knowledge of instantaneous channel state information (CSI) but only relies on large-scale fading coefficients for message decoding. To boost the scalability of noncoherent massive SIMO systems, we enable the non-orthogonal channel access of multiple users by devising a new differential modulation scheme to ensure that each transmitted signal matrix can be uniquely determined in the noise-free case and be reliably estimated in noisy cases when the antenna array size is scaled up. The key idea is to make the transmitted signals from multiple geographically separated users be superimposed properly over the air, such that when the sum signal is correctly detected, the signal sent by each individual user can be uniquely determined. To further enhance the average error performance when the array antenna number is large, we propose a max-min Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence-based design by jointly optimizing the transmitted powers of all users and the sub-constellation assignments among them. The simulation results show that the proposed design significantly outperforms the existing max-min Euclidean distance-based counterpart in terms of error performance. Moreover, our proposed approach also has a better error performance compared to the conventional coherent zero-forcing (ZF) receiver with orthogonal channel training, particularly for cell-edge users.

Spectral Efficiency Improvement Using Bi-Deep Learning Model for IRS-Assisted MU-MISO Communication System.

The intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a two-dimensional (2D) surface with a programmable structure and is composed of many arrays. The arrays are used to supervise electromagnetic wave propagation by altering the electric and magnetic properties of the 2D surface. IRS can influentially convert wireless channels to very effectively enhance spectral efficiency (SE) and communication performance in wireless systems. However, proper channel information is necessary to realize the IRS anticipated gains. The conventional technique has been taken into consideration in recent attempts to fix this issue, which is straightforward but not ideal. A deep learning model which is called the long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) model can tackle this issue due to its good learning capability and it plays a vital role in enhancing SE. Bi-LSTM can collect data from both forward and backward directions simultaneously to provide improved prediction accuracy. Because of the tremendous benefits of the Bi-LSTM model, in this paper, an IRS-assisted Bi-LSTM model-based multi-user multiple input single output downlink system is proposed for SE improvement. A Wiener filter is used to determine the optimal phase of each IRS element. In the simulation results, the proposed system is compared with other DL models and methods for the SE performance evaluation. The model exhibits satisfactory SE performance with a different signal-to-noise ratio compared to other schemes in the online phase.

Energy efficient resource allocation for re-configurable intelligent surface-assisted wireless networks

This paper focuses on energy-efficient resource allocation in reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted multiple-input-single-output (MISO) communication systems. Specifically, it revisits the solution to the energy efficiency (EE) problem using the alternating optimization (AO) approach. In each AO iteration, the RIS phase optimization is achieved using the gradient descent method, which unfortunately does not guarantee convergence. To overcome this limitation, we propose two alternatives: the Wolfe-based gradient-descent (GAW) EE maximization Algorithm and the trust region (TR)-based EE maximization algorithm. Additionally, we use Dinkelbach’s algorithm to obtain the optimal transmit power allocation. Our results demonstrate that the proposed methods outperform the existing approach that uses sequential fractional programming (SFP) for phase optimization and the traditional relay-based method.

SLIPT-Enabled Multi-LED MU-MISO VLC Networks: Joint Beamforming and DC Bias Optimization

This paper studies a simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT)-enabled multi-user (MU) multiple input single output (MISO) visible light communication (VLC) network, where multiple user equipments (UEs) are simultaneously allowed to receive information by the photodiode (PD) and harvest energy by the solar panel, respectively. To improve the system spectral efficiency, an achievable sum rate maximization problem is formulated subject to the minimum energy harvesting (EH) requirement of each UE, the total transmit power constraint of the LEDs and the dimming control constraint of the LEDs, by jointly optimizing the beamforming vector and the direct current (DC) bias vector of the LEDs. To be general, the practical non-linear EH model and the information capacity model of the VLC channel are adopted. To solve the non-convex optimization problem, the objective function is equivalently transformed at first by using the epigraph reformulation, and then the transformed problem is relaxed with the semi-definite relaxation (SDR) method. Based on this, an iterative algorithm is designed to approximately obtain the maximal achievable sum rate based on the successive convex approximation (SCA). Simulation results indicate that there exists a non-trivial trade-off between the achievable sum rate and the harvested energy, and that DC bias vector dominates the amount of the harvested energy compared with the beamforming vector. Besides, for a given relatively high EH requirement, the achievable sum rate increases with the increment of the dimming level, especially for relatively small dimming level. Once the dimming level is larger than a specific value, with the increment of the dimming level, more transmit power will be allocated for illumination, resulting in the decrement of the achievable sum rate.

IRS-Driven Cybersecurity of Healthcare Cyber Physical Systems

Intelligent reflective surface (IRS) as one of the most potential 6G key technologies injects new vitality into the smart medical and health system by intelligently configuring the wireless communication environment and spawns the construction of a modern medical information system. Medical data security is a sensitive issue that hospitals are generally concerned about in recent years. There are great hidden dangers to information security in the environment of “cloud storage”. The IRS provides a new solution for enhancing the privacy and security of “cloud storage” medical file data, assisting in the efficient transmission and interconnection of information, and ensuring highly secure and uninterrupted services in healthcare-based cyber physical systems (CPS). Specifically, the modelling in this paper considers the situation where communication over multiple-input single-output (MISO) channel is eavesdropped by a patient spy holding a single antenna receiver, and additionally the patient spy is obscured by an obstacle. One of the multi-antenna base stations (BS) transmits independent data streams to doctors and keeps them secret from patient spies. By jointly optimizing the beamforming at the BS and the phase shift of the IRS reflection elements, the simulation analysis verifies that the introduction of IRS can effectively improve the privacy security of medical data.

Harmonic-Based MIMO Transceiver With Time-Modulated Arrays

A simple harmonic-based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver based on the time-modulated array (TMA) is proposed and verified, including detailed performance analysis, comparisons with state-of-the-art works and experiment verification. The essential concept is utilizing the time modulation technique to linearly map the actual multipath channels between multiple users and the antenna elements of the TMA to the equivalent virtual channels between users and harmonics with different frequencies. Models of the received and transmitted signals in both uplink and downlink transmissions based on the multi-user single-input multiple-output (SIMO) and multiple-input single-output (MISO) scenario are analyzed and derived, followed by the proposed harmonic channel estimation, detection and beamforming methods. Simulations on the performance of the proposed harmonic-based MIMO transceiver are provided and compared to the also TMA-based space division multiple access (SDMA) scheme, showing that the latter is more like a special case of the proposed scheme. An experimental 2-user wireless communication prototype based on a 4-element TMA is fabricated and tested to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of uplink signal transmission.

Deep Learning-Based Improved Cascaded Channel Estimation and Signal Detection for Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces-Assisted MU-MISO Systems

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) consists of cost-effective passive elements which can be utilized in different scenarios in next-generation wireless communication. Deep learning (DL) algorithm plays a vital role in channel estimation (CE) due to the learning capability of DL tools to tackle the CE challenge. Bi-directional long-short term memory (Bi-LSTM) model collects data from both past (backward) and future (forward) simultaneously to improve prediction accuracy and provide an additional feature extraction capability. To take advantage of the Bi-LSTM model, in this paper, we proposed a Bi-LSTM model based CE and signal detection for RIS empowered multi-user multiple input single output downlink orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems. To measure the performance of the proposed model, it is trained by two different deep neural network (DNN) optimization algorithms. Additionally, the proposed model is compared with four existing DNN models. The least square and minimum mean square error estimators are used to investigate CE and signal detection for performance comparison. The proposed Bi-LSTM model based RIS CE is capable of learning and generalizing rapidly and outperforms the comparable estimators when different pilots and cyclic prefix values are available. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed model for CE and signal detection.

A Nonlinear Function Logic Computing Architecture With Low Switching Activity

Nonlinear functions are widely involved in modern digital signal processing systems, which are usually calculated by polynomial approximation, CORDIC algorithm, or look-up tables. Due to the quite complex logic computing architectures, these methods suffer from high switching activity of logic elements, resulting in tremendous dynamic power consumption. Reducing the switching activity is believed an efficient way to save dynamic power. In this brief, we first analyzed and proved the low switching activity feature of the conventional unary number representation. Afterward, a novel multi-hot unary number representation method and the corresponding logic computing architecture with low switching activity are proposed for nonlinear function, which significantly reduces switching activity and power consumption. Moreover, the proposed nonlinear function logic computing architecture is extended to single input multiple output nonlinear function calculation, which shares the multi-hot encoder to further reduce the hardware cost. According to the post-synthesis power evaluation using PrimePower tools, the proposed architecture achieves significant switching activity and dynamic power reduction compared to conventional computing architectures.

Semantic-Based Precoding Design for Multi-User MISO Networks

We consider the precoding design to reduce uninformative data transmissions in multi-user multiple-input singleoutput (MISO) networks. By considering the informativeness as well as the freshness of the data, we first present the peak age of incorrect information (AoII) at each physical machine (PM). We then propose the generalized power iteration (GPI) precoding algorithm to provide the precoding vector of the base station (BS) that minimizes the sum peak AoII of PMs. We show the proposed algorithm outperforms baseline methods by scheduling more for informative data updates.

Optimization for Reflection and Transmission Dual-Functional Active RIS-Assisted Systems

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has been deemed as one of potential components of future wireless communication systems because it can adaptively manipulate the wireless propagation environment with low-cost passive devices. However, due to the severe double path loss, the traditional passive RIS can provide sufficient gain only when receivers are very close to the RIS. Moreover, RIS cannot provide signal coverage for the receivers at the back side of it. To address these drawbacks in practical implementation, we introduce a novel reflection and transmission dual-functional active RIS (DF-ARIS) architecture in this paper, which can simultaneously realize reflection and transmission functionalities with active signal amplification to significantly extend signal coverage and enhance the quality-of-service (QoS) of all users. The problem of joint transmit beamforming and dual-functional active RIS design is investigated in RIS-enhanced multiuser multiple-input single-output (MU-MISO) systems. Both sum-rate maximization and power minimization problems are considered. To address their non-convexity, we develop efficient iterative algorithms to decompose them into several separate design problems, which are efficiently solved by exploiting fractional programming (FP) and Riemannian-manifold optimization techniques. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed dual-functional active RIS architecture and the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms over various benchmark schemes.

IRS-Based Energy Efficiency and Admission Control Maximization for IoT Users With Short Packet Lengths

In this paper, we study a multiuser multiple-input single-output (MISO) machine type communication (MTC)-enabled intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) system, where a multi-antenna access point (AP) transmits information symbols to a set of Internet of Things (IoT) users with short packet transmission. In particular, the total energy efficiency (EE) and the number of IoT users that could be served fairly are maximized by jointly optimizing active and passive beamformers. An efficient algorithm based on alternating optimization (AO) is proposed to solve the main optimization problem iteratively. To this end, we adopt the difference of convex functions (DC) and successive convex approximation (SCA) to make a concave-convex function. Then, we employ the fractional programming based on the quadratic form to obtain a sub-optimal solution for the active beamformers at the AP and the number of admitted users. In the passive beamforming case, a penalty-based approach is utilized together with the SCA technique to handle the unit-modulus constraints at the IRS. Simulation results unveil an interesting tradeoff between EE and user admissibility performance. Besides, the results show the effectiveness of the IRS deployment in improving EE and successfully admitted users.

Two-Timescale-Based Beam Training for RIS-Aided Millimeter-Wave Multi-User MISO Systems

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), as a promising technology for 6 G communications, have received considerable attention. Herein, we investigate the downlink precoding in the RIS-aided millimeter-wave (mmWave) multi-user multiple-input single-output (MU-MISO) system, where the access point (AP) uses hybrid digital and analog precoders. Due to the constraints of practical hardware and the difficulty of acquiring channel state information, we consider codebook-based passive beamforming and analog beamforming, and then formulate the downlink precoding problem as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem. To solve this NP-hard MINLP problem with low channel estimation overheads, we investigate beam training for the codebook-based passive beamforming and analog beamforming, and the MINLP problem is then reduced to a traditional MU-MISO precoding problem. To further reduce the beam training overheads, we propose a two-timescale-based beam training (TT-BT) algorithm. We prove that the TT-BT algorithm achieves the maximum codebook-based passive and analog beamforming gain. To avoid the limitations imposed the use of the TT property, we design the analog precoder by aligning the analog beamforming to RISs. Moreover, we characterize the rate loss due to codebook-based quantization. Compared with the empirical BT (EBT) algorithm, the proposed TT-BT algorithm achieves better performance with significantly lower training and feedback overheads.

Sum throughput optimization of wireless powered IRS-assisted multi-user MISO system

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a promising technology for beyond-5G wireless communication systems. However, the energy demand of IRS is often overlooked in existing works, leading to performance issues in practical scenarios. To address this issue, this paper proposes an operating model based on time switching (TS) protocol for an IRS-assisted multi-user multiple-input single-output (MISO) system, which can provide energy for IRS through wireless power transfer (WPT) technology. The system throughput maximization problem is addressed to improve performance. Specifically, a two-stage algorithm combined with alternating optimization, denoted as TAO, is proposed. To further improve the optimization process in large-size IRS scenarios, an improved deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) method combined with TAO, denoted as TAO-DDPG, is also proposed. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed TAO-DDPG algorithm achieves similar performance to TAO while greatly reducing the optimization time.

Utilizing double-shadowed Rician fading over energy detector-based spectrum sensing with diversity reception

This study explores the capabilities of an Energy Detector (ED)-based Cognitive Radio (CR) device in a double shadowed (DS) Rician distribution environment for spectrum sensing. The effectiveness of the ED is evaluated using metrics such as average probability of detection (PD) and average area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC). The investigation extends to single-input-multiple-output (SIMO) channel conditions, considering maximal ratio combining (MRC) and square-law selection (SLS) diversity techniques. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the system, the study also includes the asymptotic performance analysis of diversity techniques, including MRC, equal gain combining (EGC), and selection combining (SC). The findings indicated a notable enhancement in detection performance through the application of diversity combining techniques. Among the evaluated schemes, MRC demonstrated the most favorable results, followed EGC, while SC yielded comparatively weaker outcomes. To further minimize error probability, the detection threshold is optimized, resulting in improved energy detection statistics, even in scenarios involving diversity. The formulations are additionally applied to cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS). It further noted that fading parameter directly influence the array gain, while diversity gain only depends on the number of diversity branches. The accuracy and validity of the proposed results are confirmed through Monte-Carlo simulation.