Alternating Minimization Schemes for Computing Rate-Distortion-Perception Functions with $f$-Divergence Perception Constraints

We study the computation of the rate-distortion-perception function (RDPF) for discrete memoryless sources subject to a single-letter average distortion constraint and a perception constraint that belongs to the family of $f$-divergences. In this setting, the RDPF forms a convex programming problem for which we characterize the optimal parametric solutions. We employ the developed solutions in an alternating minimization scheme, namely Optimal Alternating Minimization (OAM), for which we provide convergence guarantees. Nevertheless, the OAM scheme does not lead to a direct implementation of a generalized Blahut-Arimoto (BA) type of algorithm due to the presence of implicit equations in the structure of the iteration. To overcome this difficulty, we propose two alternative minimization approaches whose applicability depends on the smoothness of the used perception metric: a Newton-based Alternating Minimization (NAM) scheme, relying on Newton's root-finding method for the approximation of the optimal iteration solution, and a Relaxed Alternating Minimization (RAM) scheme, based on a relaxation of the OAM iterates. Both schemes are shown, via the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions, to guarantee convergence to a globally optimal solution. We also provide sufficient conditions on the distortion and the perception constraints which guarantee that the proposed algorithms converge exponentially fast in the number of iteration steps. We corroborate our theoretical results with numerical simulations and draw connections with existing results.

Integrated Push-and-Pull Update Model for Goal-Oriented Effective Communication

This paper studies decision-making for goal-oriented effective communication. We consider an end-to-end status update system where a sensing agent (SA) observes a source, generates and transmits updates to an actuation agent (AA), while the AA takes actions to accomplish a goal at the endpoint. We integrate the push- and pull-based update communication models to obtain a push-and-pull model, which allows the transmission controller at the SA to decide to push an update to the AA and the query controller at the AA to pull updates by raising queries at specific time instances. To gauge effectiveness, we utilize a grade of effectiveness (GoE) metric incorporating updates' freshness, usefulness, and timeliness of actions as qualitative attributes. We then derive effect-aware policies to maximize the expected discounted sum of updates' effectiveness subject to induced costs. The effect-aware policy at the SA considers the potential effectiveness of communicated updates at the endpoint, while at the AA, it accounts for the probabilistic evolution of the source and importance of generated updates. Our results show the proposed push-and-pull model outperforms models solely based on push- or pull-based updates both in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, using effect-aware policies at both agents enhances effectiveness compared to periodic and/or probabilistic effect-agnostic policies at either or both agents.

DRACO: Decentralized Asynchronous Federated Learning over Continuous Row-Stochastic Network Matrices

Recent developments and emerging use cases, such as smart Internet of Things (IoT) and Edge AI, have sparked considerable interest in the training of neural networks over fully decentralized (serverless) networks. One of the major challenges of decentralized learning is to ensure stable convergence without resorting to strong assumptions applied for each agent regarding data distributions or updating policies. To address these issues, we propose DRACO, a novel method for decentralized asynchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) over row-stochastic gossip wireless networks by leveraging continuous communication. Our approach enables edge devices within decentralized networks to perform local training and model exchanging along a continuous timeline, thereby eliminating the necessity for synchronized timing. The algorithm also features a specific technique of decoupling communication and computation schedules, which empowers complete autonomy for all users and manageable instructions for stragglers. Through a comprehensive convergence analysis, we highlight the advantages of asynchronous and autonomous participation in decentralized optimization. Our numerical experiments corroborate the efficacy of the proposed technique.

Integrated Sensing and Communications with Affine Frequency Division Multiplexing

Integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) is regarded as a key technology in next-generation (6G) mobile communication systems. Affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM) is a recently proposed waveform that achieves optimal diversity gain in high mobility scenarios and has appealing properties in high-frequency communication. In this letter, we present an AFDM-based ISAC system. We first show that in order to identify all delay and Doppler components associated with the propagation medium, either the full AFDM signal or only its pilot part consisting of one discrete affine Fourier transform (DAFT) domain symbol and its guard interval can be used. Our results show that using one pilot symbol achieves almost the same sensing performance as using the entire AFDM frame. Furthermore, due to the chirp nature of AFDM, sensing with one pilot provides a unique feature allowing for simple self-interference cancellation, thus avoiding the need for expensive full duplex methods.

Goal-Oriented and Semantic Communication in 6G AI-Native Networks: The 6G-GOALS Approach

Recent advances in AI technologies have notably expanded device intelligence, fostering federation and cooperation among distributed AI agents. These advancements impose new requirements on future 6G mobile network architectures. To meet these demands, it is essential to transcend classical boundaries and integrate communication, computation, control, and intelligence. This paper presents the 6G-GOALS approach to goal-oriented and semantic communications for AI-Native 6G Networks. The proposed approach incorporates semantic, pragmatic, and goal-oriented communication into AI-native technologies, aiming to facilitate information exchange between intelligent agents in a more relevant, effective, and timely manner, thereby optimizing bandwidth, latency, energy, and electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation. The focus is on distilling data to its most relevant form and terse representation, aligning with the source's intent or the destination's objectives and context, or serving a specific goal. 6G-GOALS builds on three fundamental pillars: i) AI-enhanced semantic data representation, sensing, compression, and communication, ii) foundational AI reasoning and causal semantic data representation, contextual relevance, and value for goal-oriented effectiveness, and iii) sustainability enabled by more efficient wireless services. Finally, we illustrate two proof-of-concepts implementing semantic, goal-oriented, and pragmatic communication principles in near-future use cases. Our study covers the project's vision, methodologies, and potential impact.

A Latent Space Metric for Enhancing Prediction Confidence in Earth Observation Data

This study presents a new approach for estimating confidence in machine learning model predictions, specifically in regression tasks utilizing Earth Observation (EO) data, with a particular focus on mosquito abundance (MA) estimation. We take advantage of a Variational AutoEncoder architecture, to derive a confidence metric by the latent space representations of EO datasets. This methodology is pivotal in establishing a correlation between the Euclidean distance in latent representations and the Absolute Error (AE) in individual MA predictions. Our research focuses on EO datasets from the Veneto region in Italy and the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany, targeting areas significantly affected by mosquito populations. A key finding is a notable correlation of 0.46 between the AE of MA predictions and the proposed confidence metric. This correlation signifies a robust, new metric for quantifying the reliability and enhancing the trustworthiness of the AI model's predictions in the context of both EO data analysis and mosquito abundance studies.

How to Collaborate: Towards Maximizing the Generalization Performance in Cross-Silo Federated Learning

Federated learning (FL) has attracted vivid attention as a privacy-preserving distributed learning framework. In this work, we focus on cross-silo FL, where clients become the model owners after training and are only concerned about the model's generalization performance on their local data. Due to the data heterogeneity issue, asking all the clients to join a single FL training process may result in model performance degradation. To investigate the effectiveness of collaboration, we first derive a generalization bound for each client when collaborating with others or when training independently. We show that the generalization performance of a client can be improved only by collaborating with other clients that have more training data and similar data distribution. Our analysis allows us to formulate a client utility maximization problem by partitioning clients into multiple collaborating groups. A hierarchical clustering-based collaborative training (HCCT) scheme is then proposed, which does not need to fix in advance the number of groups. We further analyze the convergence of HCCT for general non-convex loss functions which unveils the effect of data similarity among clients. Extensive simulations show that HCCT achieves better generalization performance than baseline schemes, whereas it degenerates to independent training and conventional FL in specific scenarios.

From OTFS to AFDM: A Comparative Study of Next-Generation Waveforms for ISAC in Doubly-Dispersive Channels

Next-generation wireless systems will offer integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) functionalities not only in order to enable new applications, but also as a means to mitigate challenges such as doubly-dispersive channels, which arise in high mobility scenarios and/or at millimeter-wave (mmWave) and Terahertz (THz) bands. An emerging approach to accomplish these goals is the design of new waveforms, which draw from the inherent relationship between the doubly-dispersive nature of time-variant (TV) channels and the environmental features of scatterers manifested in the form of multi-path delays and Doppler shifts. Examples of such waveforms are the delay-Doppler domain orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) and the recently proposed chirp domain affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM), both of which seek to simultaneously combat the detrimental effects of double selectivity and exploit them for the estimation (or sensing) of environmental information. This article aims to provide a consolidated and comprehensive overview of the signal processing techniques required to support reliable ISAC over doubly-dispersive channels in beyond fifth generation (B5G)/sixth generation (6G) systems, with an emphasis on OTFS and AFDM waveforms, as those, together with the traditional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, suffice to elaborate on the most relevant properties of the trend. The analysis shows that OTFS and AFDM indeed enable significantly improved robustness against inter-carrier interference (ICI) arising from Doppler shifts compared to OFDM. In addition, the inherent delay-Doppler domain orthogonality of the OTFS and AFDM effective channels is found to provide significant advantages for the design and the performance of integrated sensing functionalities.

On the Computation of the Gaussian Rate-Distortion-Perception Function

In this paper, we study the computation of the rate-distortion-perception function (RDPF) for a multivariate Gaussian source under mean squared error (MSE) distortion and, respectively, Kullback-Leibler divergence, geometric Jensen-Shannon divergence, squared Hellinger distance, and squared Wasserstein-2 distance perception metrics. To this end, we first characterize the analytical bounds of the scalar Gaussian RDPF for the aforementioned divergence functions, also providing the RDPF-achieving forward "test-channel" realization. Focusing on the multivariate case, we establish that, for tensorizable distortion and perception metrics, the optimal solution resides on the vector space spanned by the eigenvector of the source covariance matrix. Consequently, the multivariate optimization problem can be expressed as a function of the scalar Gaussian RDPFs of the source marginals, constrained by global distortion and perception levels. Leveraging this characterization, we design an alternating minimization scheme based on the block nonlinear Gauss-Seidel method, which optimally solves the problem while identifying the Gaussian RDPF-achieving realization. Furthermore, the associated algorithmic embodiment is provided, as well as the convergence and the rate of convergence characterization. Lastly, for the "perfect realism" regime, the analytical solution for the multivariate Gaussian RDPF is obtained. We corroborate our results with numerical simulations and draw connections to existing results.

AFDM vs OTFS: A Comparative Study of Promising Waveforms for ISAC in Doubly-Dispersive Channels

This white paper aims to briefly describe a proposed article that will provide a thorough comparative study of waveforms designed to exploit the features of doubly-dispersive channels arising in heterogeneous high-mobility scenarios as expected in the beyond fifth generation (B5G) and sixth generation (6G), in relation to their suitability to integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) systems. In particular, the full article will compare the well-established delay-Doppler domain-based orthognal time frequency space (OTFS) and the recently proposed chirp domain-based affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM) waveforms. Both these waveforms are designed based on a full delay- Doppler representation of the time variant (TV) multipath channel, yielding not only robustness and orthogonality of information symbols in high-mobility scenarios, but also a beneficial implication for environment target detection through the inherent capability of estimating the path delay and Doppler shifts, which are standard radar parameters. These modulation schemes are distinct candidates for ISAC in B5G/6G systems, such that a thorough study of their advantages, shortcomings, implications to signal processing, and performance of communication and sensing functions are well in order. In light of the above, a sample of the intended contribution (Special Issue paper) is provided below.