Defensive Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (D-RIS) Based on Non-Reciprocal Channel Links

A reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is commonly made of low-cost passive and reflective meta-materials with excellent beam steering capabilities. It is applied to enhance wireless communication systems as a customizable signal reflector. However, RIS can also be adversely employed to disrupt the existing communication systems by introducing new types of vulnerability to the physical layer. We consider the \emph{RIS-In-The-Middle (RITM) attack}, in which an adversary uses RIS to jeopardize the direct channel between two transceivers by providing an alternative one with higher signal quality. This adversary can eavesdrop on all exchanged data by the legitimate users, but also perform a false data injection to the receiver. This work devises anti-attack techniques based on a non-reciprocal channel produced by a defensive RIS (D-RIS). The proposed precoding and combining methods and the channel estimation procedure for a non-reciprocal link are effective against potential adversaries while keeping the existing advantages of the RIS. We analyse the robustness of the system against attacks in terms of achievable secrecy rate and probability of detecting fake data. We believe that this defensive role of RIS can be a basis for new protocols and algorithms in the area.

Hybrid Message Passing-Based Detectors for Uplink Grant-Free NOMA Systems

This paper studies improving the detector performance which considers the activity state (AS) temporal correlation of the user equipments (UEs) in the time domain under the uplink grant-free non-orthogonal multiple access (GF-NOMA) system. The Bernoulli Gaussian-Markov chain (BG-MC) probability model is used for exploiting both the sparsity and slow change characteristic of the AS of the UE. The GAMP Bernoulli Gaussian-Markov chain (GAMP-BG-MC) algorithm is proposed to improve the detector performance, which can utilize the bidirectional message passing between the neighboring time slots to fully exploit the temporally-correlated AS of the UE. Furthermore, the parameters of the BG-MC model can be updated adaptively during the estimation procedure with unknown system statistics. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve the detection accuracy compared with the existing methods while keeping the same order complexity.

Technology Trends for Massive MIMO towards 6G

At the dawn of the next-generation wireless systems and networks, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) has been envisioned as one of the enabling technologies. With the continued success of being applied in the 5G and beyond, the massive MIMO technology has demonstrated its advantageousness, integrability, and extendibility. Moreover, several evolutionary features and revolutionizing trends for massive MIMO have gradually emerged in recent years, which are expected to reshape the future 6G wireless systems and networks. Specifically, the functions and performance of future massive MIMO systems will be enabled and enhanced via combining other innovative technologies, architectures, and strategies such as intelligent omni-surfaces (IOSs)/intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs), artificial intelligence (AI), THz communications, cell free architecture. Also, more diverse vertical applications based on massive MIMO will emerge and prosper, such as wireless localization and sensing, vehicular communications, non-terrestrial communications, remote sensing, inter-planetary communications.

Differential Data-Aided Beam Training for RIS-Empowered Multi-Antenna Communications

The Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) constitutes one of the prominent technologies for the next generation of wireless communications. It is envisioned to enhance the signal coverage in cases when the direct link of the communication is weak. Recently, beam training based on codebook selection is proposed to obtain the optimized phase configuration of the RIS, and then, the data is transmitted and received by using the classical coherent demodulation scheme (CDS). This training approach is able to avoid the large overhead required by the channel sounding process, and it also circumvents complex optimization problems. However, the beam training still requires the transmission of some reference signals to test the different phase configurations of the codebook, which reduces the spectral efficiency. The best codeword is chosen according to the received energy of the reference signals. In this paper, the data transmission and reception based on non-CDS (NCDS) is proposed during the beam training process in order to increase the efficiency of the system, and at the same time, enable the energy measurement for the determination of the best beam for the RIS. After choosing the best codebook, NCDS is still more suitable to transmit information for high mobility scenarios as compared to the classical CDS. Analytical expressions for the Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) for the non-coherent RIS-empowered system are presented. Moreover, a detailed comparison between the NCDS and CDS in terms of efficiency and complexity is also given. The extensive computer simulation results verify the accuracy of the presented analysis and showcase that the proposed system outperforms the existing solutions.

Non-Coherent MIMO-OFDM Uplink empowered by the Spatial Diversity in Reflecting Surfaces

Reflecting Surfaces (RSs) are being lately envisioned as an energy efficient solution capable of enhancing the signal coverage in cases where obstacles block the direct communication from Base Stations (BSs), especially at high frequency bands due to attenuation loss increase. In the current literature, wireless communications via RSs are exclusively based on traditional coherent demodulation, which necessitates the estimation of accurate Channel State Information (CSI). However, this requirement results in an increased overhead, especially in time-varying channels, which reduces the resources that can be used for data communication. In this paper, we consider the uplink between a single-antenna user and a multi-antenna BS and present a novel RS-empowered Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system based on the differential phase shift keying, which is suitable for high noise and/or mobility scenarios. As a benchmark, analytical expressions for the Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) of the proposed system are presented. Our extensive simulation results verify the accuracy of the presented analysis and showcase the performance and superiority of the proposed system over coherent demodulation.