281 research outputs found
Seven Defining Features of Terahertz (THz) Wireless Systems: A Fellowship of Communication and Sensing
Wireless communication at the terahertz (THz) frequency bands (0.1-10THz) is
viewed as one of the cornerstones of tomorrow's 6G wireless systems. Owing to
the large amount of available bandwidth, THz frequencies can potentially
provide wireless capacity performance gains and enable high-resolution sensing.
However, operating a wireless system at the THz-band is limited by a highly
uncertain channel. Effectively, these channel limitations lead to unreliable
intermittent links as a result of a short communication range, and a high
susceptibility to blockage and molecular absorption. Consequently, such
impediments could disrupt the THz band's promise of high-rate communications
and high-resolution sensing capabilities. In this context, this paper
panoramically examines the steps needed to efficiently deploy and operate
next-generation THz wireless systems that will synergistically support a
fellowship of communication and sensing services. For this purpose, we first
set the stage by describing the fundamentals of the THz frequency band. Based
on these fundamentals, we characterize seven unique defining features of THz
wireless systems: 1) Quasi-opticality of the band, 2) THz-tailored wireless
architectures, 3) Synergy with lower frequency bands, 4) Joint sensing and
communication systems, 5) PHY-layer procedures, 6) Spectrum access techniques,
and 7) Real-time network optimization. These seven defining features allow us
to shed light on how to re-engineer wireless systems as we know them today so
as to make them ready to support THz bands. Furthermore, these features
highlight how THz systems turn every communication challenge into a sensing
opportunity. Ultimately, the goal of this article is to chart a forward-looking
roadmap that exposes the necessary solutions and milestones for enabling THz
frequencies to realize their potential as a game changer for next-generation
wireless systems.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure
Rate-Splitting Multiple Access for 6G Networks: Ten Promising Scenarios and Applications
In the upcoming 6G era, multiple access (MA) will play an essential role in
achieving high throughput performances required in a wide range of wireless
applications. Since MA and interference management are closely related issues,
the conventional MA techniques are limited in that they cannot provide
near-optimal performance in universal interference regimes. Recently,
rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) has been gaining much attention. RSMA
splits an individual message into two parts: a common part, decodable by every
user, and a private part, decodable only by the intended user. Each user first
decodes the common message and then decodes its private message by applying
successive interference cancellation (SIC). By doing so, RSMA not only embraces
the existing MA techniques as special cases but also provides significant
performance gains by efficiently mitigating inter-user interference in a broad
range of interference regimes. In this article, we first present the
theoretical foundation of RSMA. Subsequently, we put forth four key benefits of
RSMA: spectral efficiency, robustness, scalability, and flexibility. Upon this,
we describe how RSMA can enable ten promising scenarios and applications along
with future research directions to pave the way for 6G.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, submitted to IEEE Network Magazin
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