Transformer Is Inherently a Causal Learner

We reveal that transformers trained in an autoregressive manner naturally encode time-delayed causal structures in their learned representations. When predicting future values in multivariate time series, the gradient sensitivities of transformer outputs with respect to past inputs directly recover the underlying causal graph, without any explicit causal objectives or structural constraints. We prove this connection theoretically under standard identifiability conditions and develop a practical extraction method using aggregated gradient attributions. On challenging cases such as nonlinear dynamics, long-term dependencies, and non-stationary systems, this approach greatly surpasses the performance of state-of-the-art discovery algorithms, especially as data heterogeneity increases, exhibiting scaling potential where causal accuracy improves with data volume and heterogeneity, a property traditional methods lack. This unifying view lays the groundwork for a future paradigm where causal discovery operates through the lens of foundation models, and foundation models gain interpretability and enhancement through the lens of causality.

A Proof of Concept for OTFS Resilience in Doubly-Selective Channels by GPU-Enabled Real-Time SDR

Orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) is a modulation technique which is robust against the disruptive effects of doubly-selective channels. In this paper, we perform an experimental study of OTFS by a real-time software defined radio (SDR) setup. Our SDR consists of a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) for signal processing programmed using Sionna and TensorFlow, and Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices for air interface. We implement a low-latency transceiver structure for OTFS and investigate its performance under various Doppler values. By comparing the performance of OTFS with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), we demonstrate that OTFS is highly robust against the disruptive effects of doubly-selective channels in a real-time experimental setup.