Spectrum sensing is a fundamental component in a cognitive radio. In this paper, we propose new sensing methods based on the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix of signals received at the secondary ...users. In particular, two sensing algorithms are suggested, one is based on the ratio of the maximum eigenvalue to minimum eigenvalue; the other is based on the ratio of the average eigenvalue to minimum eigenvalue. Using some latest random matrix theories (RMT), we quantify the distributions of these ratios and derive the probabilities of false alarm and probabilities of detection for the proposed algorithms. We also find the thresholds of the methods for a given probability of false alarm. The proposed methods overcome the noise uncertainty problem, and can even perform better than the ideal energy detection when the signals to be detected are highly correlated. The methods can be used for various signal detection applications without requiring the knowledge of signal, channel and noise power. Simulations based on randomly generated signals, wireless microphone signals and captured ATSC DTV signals are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a promising paradigm to accommodate massive device connections in 5G and beyond. To pave the way for future IoT, spectrum should be planned in advance. Spectrum ...sharing is a preferable solution for IoT due to the scarcity of available spectrum resources. In particular, mobile operators are inclined to exploit the existing standards and infrastructures of current cellular networks and deploy IoT within licensed cellular spectrum. However, proprietary companies prefer to deploy IoT within unlicensed spectrum to avoid any license fee. In this article, we provide a survey of prevalent IoT technologies deployed within licensed cellular spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. Emphasis will be on spectrum sharing solutions, including shared spectrum, interference model, and interference management. To this end, we discuss both advantages and disadvantages of different IoT technologies. Finally, we identify challenges for future IoT and suggest potential research directions.
Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) is a promising solution to build a programmable wireless environment via steering the incident signal in fully customizable ways with reconfigurable passive ...elements. In this paper, we consider a RIS-aided multiuser multiple-input single-output (MISO) downlink communication system. Our objective is to maximize the weighted sum-rate (WSR) of all users by joint designing the beamforming at the access point (AP) and the phase vector of the RIS elements, while both the perfect channel state information (CSI) setup and the imperfect CSI setup are investigated. For perfect CSI setup, a low-complexity algorithm is proposed to obtain the stationary solution for the joint design problem by utilizing the fractional programming technique. Then, we resort to the stochastic successive convex approximation technique and extend the proposed algorithm to the scenario wherein the CSI is imperfect. The validity of the proposed methods is confirmed by numerical results. In particular, the proposed algorithm performs quite well when the channel uncertainty is smaller than 10%.
This paper presents a literature review on recent applications and design aspects of the intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) in the future wireless networks. Conventionally, the network optimization ...has been limited to transmission control at two endpoints, i.e., end users and network controller. The fading wireless channel is uncontrollable and becomes one of the main limiting factors for performance improvement. The IRS is composed of a large array of scattering elements, which can be individually configured to generate additional phase shifts to the signal reflections. Hence, it can actively control the signal propagation properties in favor of signal reception, and thus realize the notion of a smart radio environment. As such, the IRS's phase control, combined with the conventional transmission control, can potentially bring performance gain compared to wireless networks without IRS. In this survey, we first introduce basic concepts of the IRS and the realizations of its reconfigurability. Then, we focus on applications of the IRS in wireless communications. We overview different performance metrics and analytical approaches to characterize the performance improvement of IRS-assisted wireless networks. To exploit the performance gain, we discuss the joint optimization of the IRS's phase control and the transceivers' transmission control in different network design problems, e.g., rate maximization and power minimization problems. Furthermore, we extend the discussion of IRS-assisted wireless networks to some emerging use cases. Finally, we highlight important practical challenges and future research directions for realizing IRS-assisted wireless networks in beyond 5G communications.
Ambient backscatter communication (AmBC) enables radio-frequency (RF) powered backscatter devices (BDs) (e.g., sensors and tags) to modulate their information bits over ambient RF carriers in an ...over-the-air manner. This technology, also called "modulation in the air," has emerged as a promising solution to achieve green communication for future Internet of Things. This paper studies an AmBC system by leveraging the ambient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulated signals in the air. We first model such AmBC system from a spread-spectrum communication perspective, upon which a novel joint design for BD waveform and receiver detector is proposed. The BD symbol period is designed as an integer multiplication of the OFDM symbol period, and the waveform for BD bit "0" maintains the same state within the BD symbol period, while the waveform for BD bit "1" has a state transition in the middle of each OFDM symbol period within the BD symbol period. In the receiver detector design, we construct the test statistic that cancels out the direct-link interference by exploiting the repeating structure of the ambient OFDM signals due to the use of cyclic prefix. For the system with a single-antenna receiver, the maximum-likelihood detector is proposed to recover the BD bits, for which the optimal threshold is obtained in closed-form expression. For the system with a multi-antenna receiver, we propose a new test statistic which is a linear combination of the per-antenna test statistics and derive the corresponding optimal detector. The proposed optimal detectors require only knowing the strength of the backscatter channel, thus simplifying their implementation. Moreover, practical timing synchronization algorithms are proposed for the designed AmBC system, and we also analyze the effect of various system parameters on the transmission rate and detection performance. Finally, extensive numerical results are provided to verify that the proposed transceiver design can improve the system bit-error-rate performance and the operating range significantly and achieve much higher data rate, as compared with the conventional design.
Since 5G new radio comes with non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) versions in 3GPP, research on 6G has been on schedule by academics and industries. Though 6G is supposed to have much higher ...capabilities than 5G, yet there is no clear description about what 6G is. In this article, a comprehensive discussion of 6G is given based on the review of 5G developments, covering visions and requirements, technology trends and challenges, aiming at tackling the challenge of coverage, capacity, the user data rate and movement speed of mobile communication system. The vision of 6G is to fully support the development of a Ubiquitous Intelligent Mobile Society with intelligent life and industries. Finally, the roadmap of the 6G standard is suggested for the future.
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) is a promising solution to reconfigure the wireless environment in a controllable way. To compensate for the double-fading attenuation in the RIS-aided link, ...a large number of passive reflecting elements (REs) are conventionally deployed at the RIS, resulting in large surface size and considerable circuit power consumption. In this paper, we propose a new type of RIS, called active RIS, where each RE is assisted by active loads (negative resistance), that reflect and amplify the incident signal instead of only reflecting it with the adjustable phase shift as in the case of a passive RIS. Therefore, for a given power budget at the RIS, a strengthened RIS-aided link can be achieved by increasing the number of active REs as well as amplifying the incident signal. We consider the use of an active RIS to a single input multiple output (SIMO) system. However, it would unintentionally amplify the RIS-correlated noise, and thus the proposed system has to balance the conflict between the received signal power maximization and the RIS-correlated noise minimization at the receiver. To achieve this goal, it has to optimize the reflecting coefficient matrix at the RIS and the receive beamforming at the receiver. An alternating optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the problem. Specifically, the receive beamforming is obtained with a closed-form solution based on linear minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) criterion, while the reflecting coefficient matrix is obtained by solving a series of sequential convex approximation (SCA) problems. Simulation results show that the proposed active RIS-aided system could achieve better performance over the conventional passive RIS-aided system with the same power budget.
Spectrum sensing, i.e., detecting the presence of primary users in a licensed spectrum, is a fundamental problem in cognitive radio. Since the statistical covariances of the received signal and noise ...are usually different, they can be used to differentiate the case where the primary user's signal is present from the case where there is only noise. In this paper, spectrum-sensing algorithms are proposed based on the sample covariance matrix calculated from a limited number of received signal samples. Two test statistics are then extracted from the sample covariance matrix. A decision on the signal presence is made by comparing the two test statistics. Theoretical analysis for the proposed algorithms is given. Detection probability and the associated threshold are found based on the statistical theory. The methods do not need any information about the signal, channel, and noise power a priori . In addition, no synchronization is needed. Simulations based on narrow-band signals, captured digital television (DTV) signals, and multiple antenna signals are presented to verify the methods.
Ambient backscatter communication (AmBC) enables a passive backscatter device to transmit information to a reader using ambient RF signals, and has emerged as a promising solution to green ...Internet-of-Things (IoT). Conventional AmBC receivers are interested in recovering the information from the ambient backscatter device (A-BD) only. In this paper, we propose a cooperative AmBC (CABC) system in which the reader recovers information not only from the A-BD, but also from the RF source. We first establish the system model for the CABC system from spread spectrum and spectrum sharing perspectives. Then, for flat fading channels, we derive the optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) detector, suboptimal linear detectors as well as successive interference-cancellation (SIC) based detectors. For frequency-selective fading channels, the system model for the CABC system over ambient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing carriers is proposed, upon which a low-complexity optimal ML detector is derived. For both kinds of channels, the bit-error-rate expressions for the proposed detectors are derived in closed forms. Finally, extensive numerical results have shown that, when the A-BD signal and the RF-source signal have equal symbol period, the proposed SIC-based detectors can achieve near-ML detection performance for typical application scenarios, and when the A-BD symbol period is longer than the RF-source symbol period, the existence of backscattered signal in the CABC system can enhance the ML detection performance of the RF-source signal, thanks to the beneficial effect of the backscatter link when the A-BD transmits at a lower rate than the RF source.