Rate-Splitting Multiple Access for 6G -- Part I: Principles, Applications and Future Works

This letter is the first part of a three-part tutorial focusing on rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) for 6G. As Part I of the tutorial, the letter presents the basics of RSMA and its applications in light of 6G. To begin with, we first delineate the design principle and basic transmission frameworks of downlink and uplink RSMA. We then illustrate the applications of RSMA for addressing the challenges of various potential enabling technologies and use cases, consequently making it a promising next generation multiple access (NGMA) scheme for future networks such as 6G and beyond. We briefly discuss the challenges of RSMA and conclude the letter. In continuation of Part I, we will focus on the interplay of RSMA with integrated sensing and communication, and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, respectively in Part II and Part III of this tutorial

Five Facets of 6G: Research Challenges and Opportunities

Whilst the fifth-generation (5G) systems are being rolled out across the globe, researchers have turned their attention to the exploration of radical next-generation solutions. At this early evolutionary stage we survey five main research facets of this field, namely {\em Facet~1: next-generation architectures, spectrum and services, Facet~2: next-generation networking, Facet~3: Internet of Things (IoT), Facet~4: wireless positioning and sensing, as well as Facet~5: applications of deep learning in 6G networks.} In this paper, we have provided a critical appraisal of the literature of promising techniques ranging from the associated architectures, networking, applications as well as designs. We have portrayed a plethora of heterogeneous architectures relying on cooperative hybrid networks supported by diverse access and transmission mechanisms. The vulnerabilities of these techniques are also addressed and carefully considered for highlighting the most of promising future research directions. Additionally, we have listed a rich suite of learning-driven optimization techniques. We conclude by observing the evolutionary paradigm-shift that has taken place from pure single-component bandwidth-efficiency, power-efficiency or delay-optimization towards multi-component designs, as exemplified by the twin-component ultra-reliable low-latency mode of the 5G system. We advocate a further evolutionary step towards multi-component Pareto optimization, which requires the exploration of the entire Pareto front of all optiomal solutions, where none of the components of the objective function may be improved without degrading at least one of the other components

A Comprehensive Overview on 5G-and-Beyond Networks with UAVs: From Communications to Sensing and Intelligence

Due to the advancements in cellular technologies and the dense deployment of cellular infrastructure, integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond cellular networks is a promising solution to achieve safe UAV operation as well as enabling diversified applications with mission-specific payload data delivery. In particular, 5G networks need to support three typical usage scenarios, namely, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). On the one hand, UAVs can be leveraged as cost-effective aerial platforms to provide ground users with enhanced communication services by exploiting their high cruising altitude and controllable maneuverability in three-dimensional (3D) space. On the other hand, providing such communication services simultaneously for both UAV and ground users poses new challenges due to the need for ubiquitous 3D signal coverage as well as the strong air-ground network interference. Besides the requirement of high-performance wireless communications, the ability to support effective and efficient sensing as well as network intelligence is also essential for 5G-and-beyond 3D heterogeneous wireless networks with coexisting aerial and ground users. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the latest research efforts on integrating UAVs into cellular networks, with an emphasis on how to exploit advanced techniques (e.g., intelligent reflecting surface, short packet transmission, energy harvesting, joint communication and radar sensing, and edge intelligence) to meet the diversified service requirements of next-generation wireless systems. Moreover, we highlight important directions for further investigation in future work.Comment: Accepted by IEEE JSA