D4.2 Intelligent D-Band wireless systems and networks initial designs

This deliverable gives the results of the ARIADNE project's Task 4.2: Machine Learning based network intelligence. It presents the work conducted on various aspects of network management to deliver system level, qualitative solutions that leverage diverse machine learning techniques. The different chapters present system level, simulation and algorithmic models based on multi-agent reinforcement learning, deep reinforcement learning, learning automata for complex event forecasting, system level model for proactive handovers and resource allocation, model-driven deep learning-based channel estimation and feedbacks as well as strategies for deployment of machine learning based solutions. In short, the D4.2 provides results on promising AI and ML based methods along with their limitations and potentials that have been investigated in the ARIADNE project

Millimeter Wave Beamforming Training: A Reinforcement Learning Approach

Beamforming training (BT) is considered as an essential process to accomplish the communications in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band, i.e., 30 ~ 300 GHz. This process aims to find out the best transmit/receive antenna beams to compensate the impairments of the mmWave channel and successfully establish the mmWave link. Typically, the mmWave BT process is highly-time consuming affecting the overall throughput and energy consumption of the mmWave link establishment. In this paper, a machine learning (ML) approach, specifically reinforcement learning (RL), is utilized for enabling the mmWave BT process by modeling it as a multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem with the aim of maximizing the long-term throughput of the constructed mmWave link. Based on this formulation, MAB algorithms such as upper confidence bound (UCB), Thompson sampling (TS), epsilon-greedy (e-greedy), are utilized to address the problem and accomplish the mmWave BT process. Numerical simulations confirm the superior performance of the proposed MAB approach over the existing mmWave BT techniques.   

A Review of Indoor Millimeter Wave Device-based Localization and Device-free Sensing Technologies and Applications

The commercial availability of low-cost millimeter wave (mmWave) communication and radar devices is starting to improve the penetration of such technologies in consumer markets, paving the way for large-scale and dense deployments in fifth-generation (5G)-and-beyond as well as 6G networks. At the same time, pervasive mmWave access will enable device localization and device-free sensing with unprecedented accuracy, especially with respect to sub-6 GHz commercial-grade devices. This paper surveys the state of the art in device-based localization and device-free sensing using mmWave communication and radar devices, with a focus on indoor deployments. We first overview key concepts about mmWave signal propagation and system design. Then, we provide a detailed account of approaches and algorithms for localization and sensing enabled by mmWaves. We consider several dimensions in our analysis, including the main objectives, techniques, and performance of each work, whether each research reached some degree of implementation, and which hardware platforms were used for this purpose. We conclude by discussing that better algorithms for consumer-grade devices, data fusion methods for dense deployments, as well as an educated application of machine learning methods are promising, relevant and timely research directions.Comment: 43 pages, 13 figures. Accepted in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials (IEEE COMST

Millimeter wave link configuration with hybrid MIMO architectures

The use of multiple antennas, widely known as MIMO technology, is a key feature to deploy mmWave communication systems enabling high-data-rate applications. With more than two decades of global experience in deploying Wi-Fi and cellular communication using sub-6 GHz frequency bands, simply repurposing these designs for mmWave bands would fail to account for additional propagation impairments and circuit design constraints at these higher frequencies. A solution to overcome the propagation challenges is the use of multiple directional communication beams, whereby proper alignment between transceivers provides sufficient link quality to enable reliable decoding of the transmitted data. In this dissertation, efficient link configuration solutions suitable for mmWave cellular communications are developed. To gain some insight into the achievable performance of mmWave systems, two broadband channel-estimation-based link configuration solutions are proposed for MIMO-OFDM systems, in which both the transmitter and receiver are assumed to be perfectly synchronized. The proposed solution exploits the spatially common sparsity in the mmWave channel and enables efficient acquisition of the CSI while allowing the use of multiple RF chains on both the transmitter and receiver sides. In a simplified scenario, the CRLB for the channel estimation problem is derived, and the proposed channel estimation algorithms are shown to both outperform prior work in communication performance and exhibit excellent estimation performance. Furthermore, the proposed algorithms are assessed in a more challenging scenario with realistic channel parameters, and it is shown that both near-optimal spectral efficiency and low BER can be attained with lower overhead and computational complexity than prior solutions. Next, the impact of imperfect CFO synchronization on the channel estimation problem is analyzed under a narrowband channel model. The CRLB for the estimation of the different unknown parameters involved in the problem is theoretically analyzed, and closed-form expressions are provided for the estimation of the different parameters. Under a joint estimation-theoretic and CS framework, a low-complexity multi-stage solution is proposed to estimate both the different unknown synchronization parameters and the large-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel. Different trade-offs between estimation, spectral efficiency, and overhead performance are exposed, and the proposed estimators are shown to be asymptotically optimal in the low SNR regime. The proposed solution is assessed under a channel model with several clusters and rays per cluster, and is shown to attain near-optimal spectral efficiency values in both the low and high SNR regimes. The computational complexity of the proposed solution is also analyzed, in which it is shown to achieve a marginal increase in computational complexity with respect to the solution proposed in the previous contribution. Finally, the impact of TO, CFO, and PN impairments on the channel estimation problem is analyzed under a broadband channel model. The problem of time-frequency synchronization under PN impairments is theoretically analyzed, and the proposed solutions to the synchronization problem are exploited to estimate the frequency-selective mmWave MIMO channel. The hybrid CRLB for the estimation of the different synchronization impairments is analyzed, and closed-form expressions leveraging the information coupling between the different impairments are provided. The previously proposed joint estimation-theoretic and CS framework is extended to frequency-selective scenarios, and two low-complexity multi-stage solutions are proposed to estimate both the different synchronization impairments and the large-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel. The first solution relies on a batch-processing LMMSE-based EM algorithm to estimate the different synchronization impairments, while the second solution uses a sequential-processing EKF-RTS-based EM algorithm, thereby reducing computational complexity. Thereafter, both the hybrid CRLB for the estimation of the equivalent beamformed complex channels and the estimates for these parameters are exploited to estimate the large-dimensional frequency-selective mmWave MIMO channel. Finally, a joint PN and data detection algorithm is proposed for data transmission under the 5G NR frame structure. The proposed solutions are evaluated using a 5G NR-based channel model, and different trade-offs between estimation performance, computational complexity, overhead, achievable spectral efficiency and BER are exposed, and comparisons with prior work are also provided. The results show that mmWave link configuration using hybrid MIMO architectures can be established with low overhead without assuming synchronization, even in the low SNR regime.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Channel Acquisition for HF Skywave Massive MIMO-OFDM Communications

In this paper, we investigate channel acquisition for high frequency (HF) skywave massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation. We first introduce the concept of triple beams (TBs) in the space-frequency-time (SFT) domain and establish a TB based channel model using sampled triple steering vectors. With the established channel model, we then investigate the optimal channel estimation and pilot design for pilot segments. Specifically, we find the conditions that allow pilot reuse among multiple user terminals (UTs), which significantly reduces pilot overhead. Moreover, we propose a channel prediction method for data segments based on the estimated TB domain channel. To reduce the complexity, we are able to formulate the channel estimation as a sparse signal recovery problem due to the channel sparsity in the TB domain and then obtain the channel by the proposed constrained Bethe free energy minimization (CBFEM) based channel estimation algorithm, which can be implemented with low complexity by exploiting the structure of the TB matrix together with the chirp z-transform (CZT). Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed channel acquisition approach.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figure