CRB Optimization using a Parametric Scattering Model for Extended Targets in ISAC Systems

This paper presents a novel parametric scattering model (PSM) for sensing extended targets in integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems. The PSM addresses the limitations of traditional models by efficiently capturing the target's angular characteristics through a compact set of key parameters, including the central angle and angular spread, enabling efficient optimization. Based on the PSM, we first derive the Cramer-Rao Bound (CRB) for parameter estimation and then propose a beamforming design algorithm to minimize the CRB while meeting both communication signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and power constraints. By integrating the PSM into the beamforming optimization process, the proposed framework achieves superior CRB performance while balancing the tradeoff between sensing accuracy and communication quality. Simulation results demonstrate that the PSM-based approach consistently outperforms traditional unstructured and discrete scattering models, particularly in resource-limited scenarios, highlighting its practical applicability and scalability.

Channel-Coded Precoding for Multi-User MISO Systems

Precoding is a critical and long-standing technique in multi-user communication systems. However, the majority of existing precoding methods do not consider channel coding in their designs. In this paper, we consider the precoding problem in multi-user multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, incorporating channel coding into the design. By leveraging the error-correcting capability of channel codes we increase the degrees of freedom in the transmit signal design, thereby enhancing the overall system performance. We first propose a novel data-dependent precoding framework for coded MISO systems, referred to as channel-coded precoding (CCP), which maximizes the probability that information bits can be correctly recovered by the channel decoder. This proposed CCP framework allows the transmit signals to produce data symbol errors at the users' receivers, as long as the overall information BER performance can be improved. We develop the CCP framework for both one-bit and multi-bit error-correcting capacity and devise a projected gradient-based approach to solve the design problem. We also develop a robust CCP framework for the case where knowledge of perfect channel state information (CSI) is unavailable at the transmitter, taking into account the effect of both noise and channel estimation errors. Finally, we conduct numerous simulations to verify the effectiveness of the proposed CCP and its superiority compared to existing precoding methods, and we identify situations where the proposed CCP yields the most significant gains.

RIS-Aided Dual-Polarized MIMO: How Large a Surface is Needed to Beat Single Polarization?

Dual-polarized (DP) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems have been widely adopted in commercial mobile wireless communications. Such systems achieve multiplexing and diversity gain by exploiting the polarization dimension. However, existing studies have shown that the capacity of DP MIMO may not surpass that of single-polarized (SP) MIMO systems due to the cross-polarization coupling induced by the propagation environment. In this letter, we employ reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) to address this issue and investigate how large the surface should be to ensure a better performance for DP MIMO. Specifically, we first derive the capacities of DP and SP MIMO systems with an RIS, and then study the influence of the RIS size on the system capacity. Our analyses reveal how to deploy the RIS in a DP MIMO scenario.

DOA Estimation-Oriented Joint Array Partitioning and Beamforming Designs for ISAC Systems

Integrated sensing and communication has been identified as an enabling technology for forthcoming wireless networks. In an effort to achieve an improved performance trade-off between multiuser communications and radar sensing, this paper considers a dynamically-partitioned antenna array architecture for monostatic ISAC systems, in which each element of the array at the base station can function as either a transmit or receive antenna. To fully exploit the available spatial degrees of freedom for both communication and sensing functions, we jointly design the partitioning of the array between transmit and receive antennas together with the transmit beamforming in order to minimize the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation error, while satisfying constraints on the communication signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and the transmit power budget. An alternating algorithm based on Dinkelbach's transform, the alternative direction method of multipliers, and majorization-minimization is developed to solve the resulting complicated optimization problem. To reduce the computational complexity, we also present a heuristic three-step strategy that optimizes the transmit beamforming after determining the antenna partitioning. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms in significantly reducing the DOA estimation error.

Meta-Learning-Driven Adaptive Codebook Design for Near-Field Communications

Extremely large-scale arrays (XL-arrays) and ultra-high frequencies are two key technologies for sixth-generation (6G) networks, offering higher system capacity and expanded bandwidth resources. To effectively combine these technologies, it is necessary to consider the near-field spherical-wave propagation model, rather than the traditional far-field planar-wave model. In this paper, we explore a near-field communication system comprising a base station (BS) with hybrid analog-digital beamforming and multiple mobile users. Our goal is to maximize the system's sum-rate by optimizing the near-field codebook design for hybrid precoding. To enable fast adaptation to varying user distributions, we propose a meta-learning-based framework that integrates the model-agnostic meta-learning (MAML) algorithm with a codebook learning network. Specifically, we first design a deep neural network (DNN) to learn the near-field codebook. Then, we combine the MAML algorithm with the DNN to allow rapid adaptation to different channel conditions by leveraging a well-initialized model from the outer network. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed framework outperforms conventional algorithms, offering improved generalization and better overall performance.

MIMO Detection with Spatial Sigma-Delta ADCs: A Variational Bayesian Approach

The spatial Sigma-Delta ($\Sigma\Delta$) architecture can be leveraged to reduce the quantization noise and enhance the effective resolution of few-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) at certain spatial frequencies of interest. Utilizing the variational Bayesian (VB) inference framework, this paper develops novel data detection algorithms tailored for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with few-bit $\Sigma\Delta$ ADCs and angular channel models, where uplink signals are confined to a specific angular sector. We start by modeling the corresponding Bayesian networks for the $1^{\mathrm{st}}$- and $2^{\mathrm{nd}}$-order $\Sigma\Delta$ receivers. Next, we propose an iterative algorithm, referred to as Sigma-Delta variational Bayes (SD-VB), for MIMO detection, offering low-complexity updates through closed-form expressions of the variational densities of the latent variables. Simulation results show that the proposed $2^{\mathrm{nd}}$-order SD-VB algorithm delivers the best symbol error rate (SER) performance while maintaining the same computational complexity as in unquantized systems, matched-filtering VB with conventional quantization, and linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) methods. Moreover, the $1^{\mathrm{st}}$- and $2^{\mathrm{nd}}$-order SD-VB algorithms achieve their lowest SER at an antenna separation of one-fourth wavelength for a fixed number of antenna elements. The effects of the steering angle of the $\Sigma\Delta$ architecture, the number of ADC resolution bits, and the number of antennas and users are also extensively analyzed.

Digital and Hybrid Precoding Designs in Massive MIMO with Low-Resolution ADCs

Low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) have emerged as an efficient solution for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems to reap high data rates with reasonable power consumption and hardware complexity. In this paper, we study precoding designs for digital, fully connected (FC) hybrid, and partially connected (PC) hybrid beamforming architectures in massive MIMO systems with low-resolution ADCs at the receiver. We aim to maximize the spectral efficiency (SE) subject to a transmit power budget and hardware constraints on the analog components. The resulting problems are nonconvex and the quantization distortion introduces additional challenges. To address them, we first derive a tight lower bound for the SE, based on which we optimize the precoders for the three beamforming architectures under the majorization-minorization framework. Numerical results validate the superiority of the proposed precoding designs over their state-of-the-art counterparts in systems with low-resolution ADCs, particularly those with 1-bit resolution. The results show that the PC hybrid precoding design can achieve an SE close to those of the digital and FC hybrid precoding designs in 1-bit systems, highlighting the potential of the PC hybrid beamforming architectures.

Symbol Level Precoding for Systems with Improper Gaussian Interference

This paper focuses on precoding design in multi-antenna systems with improper Gaussian interference (IGI), characterized by correlated real and imaginary parts. We first study block level precoding (BLP) and symbol level precoding (SLP) assuming the receivers apply a pre-whitening filter to decorrelate and normalize the IGI. We then shift to the scenario where the base station (BS) incorporates the IGI statistics in the SLP design, which allows the receivers to employ a standard detection algorithm without pre-whitenting. Finally we address the case where the channel and statistics of the IGI are unknown, and we formulate robust BLP and SLP designs that minimize the worst case performance in such settings. Interestingly, we show that for BLP, the worst-case IGI is in fact proper, while for SLP the worst case occurs when the interference signal is maximally improper, with fully correlated real and imaginary parts. Numerical results reveal the superior performance of SLP in terms of symbol error rate (SER) and energy efficiency (EE), especially for the case where there is uncertainty in the non-circularity of the jammer.

Optimality of the Bussgang Linear MMSE Channel Estimator for MIMO Systems with 1-Bit ADCs

In this paper, we study the optimality of the Bussgang linear minimum mean squared error (BLMMSE) channel estimator for multiple-input multiple-output systems with 1-bit analog-to-digital converters. We compare the BLMMSE with the optimal minimum mean squared error (MMSE) channel estimator, which is generally non-linear, and we develop a novel framework based on the orthant probability of a multivariate normal distribution to compute the MMSE channel estimate. Then, we analyze the equivalence of the MMSE and BLMMSE channel estimators under specific assumptions on the channel correlation or pilot symbols. Interestingly, the BLMMSE channel estimator turns out to be optimal in several specific cases. Our study culminates with the presentation of a necessary and sufficient condition for the BLMMSE channel estimator to be optimal.

MIMO-OFDM ISAC Waveform Design for Range-Doppler Sidelobe Suppression

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is a key enabling technique for future wireless networks owing to its efficient hardware and spectrum utilization. In this paper, we focus on dual-functional waveform design for a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ISAC system, which is considered to be a promising solution for practical deployment. Since the dual-functional waveform carries communication information, its random nature leads to high range-Doppler sidelobes in the ambiguity function, which in turn degrades radar sensing performance. To suppress range-Doppler sidelobes, we propose a novel symbol-level precoding (SLP) based waveform design for MIMO-OFDM ISAC systems by fully exploiting the temporal degrees of freedom (DoFs). Our goal is to minimize the range-Doppler integrated sidelobe level (ISL) while satisfying the constraints of target illumination power, multi-user communication quality of service (QoS), and constant-modulus transmission. To solve the resulting non-convex waveform design problem, we develop an efficient algorithm using the majorization-minimization (MM) and alternative direction method of multipliers (ADMM) methods. Simulation results show that the proposed waveform has significantly reduced range-Doppler sidelobes compared with signals designed only for communications and other baselines. In addition, the proposed waveform design achieves target detection and estimation performance close to that achievable by waveforms designed only for radar, which demonstrates the superiority of the proposed SLP-based ISAC approach.