A survey of symbiotic radio: Methodologies, applications, and future directions

The sixth generation (6G) wireless technology aims to achieve global connectivity with environmentally sustainable networks to improve the overall quality of life. The driving force behind these networks is the rapid evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT), which has led to a proliferation of wireless applications across various domains through the massive deployment of IoT devices. The major challenge is to support these devices with limited radio spectrum and energy-efficient communication. Symbiotic radio (SRad) technology is a promising solution that enables cooperative resource-sharing among radio systems through symbiotic relationships. By fostering mutualistic and competitive resource sharing, SRad technology enables the achievement of both common and individual objectives among the different systems. It is a cutting-edge approach that allows for the creation of new paradigms and efficient resource sharing and management. In this article, we present a detailed survey of SRad with the goal of offering valuable insights for future research and applications. To achieve this, we delve into the fundamental concepts of SRad technology, including radio symbiosis and its symbiotic relationships for coexistence and resource sharing among radio systems. We then review the state-of-the-art methodologies in-depth and introduce potential applications. Finally, we identify and discuss the open challenges and future research directions in this field

Enhanced Physical Layer Security for Full-duplex Symbiotic Radio with AN Generation and Forward Noise Suppression

Due to the constraints on power supply and limited encryption capability, data security based on physical layer security (PLS) techniques in backscatter communications has attracted a lot of attention. In this work, we propose to enhance PLS in a full-duplex symbiotic radio (FDSR) system with a proactive eavesdropper, which may overhear the information and interfere legitimate communications simultaneously by emitting attack signals. To deal with the eavesdroppers, we propose a security strategy based on pseudo-decoding and artificial noise (AN) injection to ensure the performance of legitimate communications through forward noise suppression. A novel AN signal generation scheme is proposed using a pseudo-decoding method, where AN signal is superimposed on data signal to safeguard the legitimate channel. The phase control in the forward noise suppression scheme and the power allocation between AN and data signals are optimized to maximize security throughput. The formulated problem can be solved via problem decomposition and alternate optimization algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme in terms of security throughput and attack mitigation performance

Multi-BD Symbiotic Radio-Aided 6G IoT Network: Energy Consumption Optimization with QoS Constraint Approach

The commensal symbiotic radio (CSR) system is proposed as a novel solution for connecting systems through green communication networks. This system enables us to establish secure, ubiquitous, and unlimited connectivity, which is a goal of 6G. The base station uses MIMO antennas to transmit its signal. Passive IoT devices, called symbiotic backscatter devices (SBDs), receive the signal and use it to charge their power supply. When the SBDs have data to transmit, they modulate the information onto the received ambient RF signal and send it to the symbiotic user equipment, which is a typical active device. The main purpose is to enhance energy efficiency in this network by minimizing energy consumption (EC) while ensuring the minimum required throughput for SBDs. To achieve this, we propose a new scheduling scheme called Timing-SR that optimally allocates resources to SBDs. The main optimization problem involves non-convex objective functions and constraints. To solve this, we use mathematical techniques and introduce a new approach called sequential quadratic and conic quadratic representation to relax and discipline the problem, leading to reducing its complexity and convergence time. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms other outlined schemes in reducing EC

Multi-BD Symbiotic Radio-Aided 6G IoT Network: Energy Consumption Optimization with QoS Constraint Approach

The commensal symbiotic radio (CSR) system is proposed as a novel solution for connecting systems through green communication networks. This system enables us to establish secure, ubiquitous, and unlimited connectivity, which is a goal of 6G. The base station uses MIMO antennas to transmit its signal. Passive IoT devices, called symbiotic backscatter devices (SBDs), receive the signal and use it to charge their power supply. When the SBDs have data to transmit, they modulate the information onto the received ambient RF signal and send it to the symbiotic user equipment, which is a typical active device. The main purpose is to enhance energy efficiency in this network by minimizing energy consumption (EC) while ensuring the minimum required throughput for SBDs. To achieve this, we propose a new scheduling scheme called Timing-SR that optimally allocates resources to SBDs. The main optimization problem involves non-convex objective functions and constraints. To solve this, we use mathematical techniques and introduce a new approach called sequential quadratic and conic quadratic representation to relax and discipline the problem, leading to reducing its complexity and convergence time. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms other outlined schemes in reducing EC

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Enabled Joint Backscattering and Communication

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) as an essential topic in the sixth-generation (6G) communications aims to enhance communication performance or mitigate undesired transmission. However, the controllability of each reflecting element on RIS also enables it to act as a passive backscatter device (BD) and transmit its information to reader devices. In this paper, we propose a RIS-enabled joint backscattering and communication (JBAC) system, where the backscatter communication coexists with the primary communication and occupies no extra spectrum. Specifically, the RIS modifies its reflecting pattern to act as a passive BD and reflect its own information back to the base station (BS) in the backscatter communication, while helping the primary communication from the BS to the users simultaneously. We further present an iterative active beamforming and reflecting pattern design to maximize the user average transmission rate of the primary communication and the goodput of the backscatter communication by solving the formulated multi-objective optimization problem (MOOP). Numerical results fully uncover the impacts of the number of reflecting elements and the reflecting patterns on the system performance, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Important practical implementation remarks have also been discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, published to IEEE TV