Media-Based MIMO: A New Frontier in Wireless Communications

The idea of Media-based Modulation (MBM), is based on embedding information in the variations of the transmission media (channel state). This is in contrast to legacy wireless systems where data is embedded in a Radio Frequency (RF) source prior to the transmit antenna. MBM offers several advantages vs. legacy systems, including "additivity of information over multiple receive antennas", and "inherent diversity over a static fading channel". MBM is particularly suitable for transmitting high data rates using a single transmit and multiple receive antennas (Single Input-Multiple Output Media-Based Modulation, or SIMO-MBM). However, complexity issues limit the amount of data that can be embedded in the channel state using a single transmit unit. To address this shortcoming, the current article introduces the idea of Layered Multiple Input-Multiple Output Media-Based Modulation (LMIMO-MBM). Relying on a layered structure, LMIMO-MBM can significantly reduce both hardware and algorithmic complexities, as well as the training overhead, vs. SIMO-MBM. Simulation results show excellent performance in terms of Symbol Error Rate (SER) vs. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). For example, a $4\times 16$ LMIMO-MBM is capable of transmitting $32$ bits of information per (complex) channel-use, with SER $\simeq 10^{-5}$ at $E_b/N_0\simeq -3.5$dB (or SER $\simeq 10^{-4}$ at $E_b/N_0=-4.5$dB). This performance is achieved using a single transmission and without adding any redundancy for Forward-Error-Correction (FEC). This means, in addition to its excellent SER vs. energy/rate performance, MBM relaxes the need for complex FEC structures, and thereby minimizes the transmission delay. Overall, LMIMO-MBM provides a promising alternative to MIMO and Massive MIMO for the realization of 5G wireless networks.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, additional examples are given to further explain the idea of Media-Based Modulation. Capacity figure adde

Media-Based Modulation for Next-Generation Wireless: Latest Progress and New Applications

Media-based modulation (MBM) is a novel technique for embedding information in the channel states via intentional perturbations of the transmission media. This article provides an overview of MBM and its benefits while highlighting relevant challenges and future research directions. We explain how MBM differs from source-based modulation and how it addresses issues in legacy multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) systems, such as deep fades and MIMO diversity-multiplexing trade-off. We demonstrate how MBM works in harmony with other index modulations and improves upon them by providing similar advantages with a more compact transmitter. Numerical results (simulation and analytical) support these claims and include outage comparison with legacy MIMO systems, comparisons with other state-of-the-art modulation schemes, and a performance example showcasing transmitting 32 bits of information in a single channel use with an excellent symbol error rate of SER ~ 1e-5  at “energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio” of Eb=N0 ~ 3:5 dB. The article continues with methods to address the issues of receiver training and decoding for large constellation sets. A number of other research questions, such as pulse shaping to limit bandwidth expansion due to the time-varying nature of MBM and the effect of forward error correcting codes on MBM diversity order are discussed. We present an RF transceiver structure that generates independent propagation paths for embedding information. Fabrication and testing of the transceiver structure show close agreement between simulation and measurement. There are inherent connections between MBM and intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). These connections, including the application of MBM in beamforming, are discussed. We present a solution that involves the integration of a filtering radiating patch within the MBM walls to restrict bandwidth expansion. Lastly, we delve into several specific application domains for MBM.</p