Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) enables a base station (BS) to transmit data streams to multiple users simultaneously on the same resource block (RB). In 5G specifications, a resource scheduling algorithm needs to consider both resource allocation in the spatial domain (i.e., MU-MIMO user scheduling on each RB) and frequency domain (i.e., RB allocation to each user). In addition, the scheduler must meet the real-time requirement. This paper presents a random sampling based joint spatial-frequency domain message passing (RS-JSFD-MP) algorithm, which is a novel radio resource scheduler that can meet the real-time requirement under the consideration of the finite buffer traffic scenario. The key idea of RS-JSFD-MP is to transform the scheduling problem into a graph model and design the corresponding low complexity message passing algorithm based on the random sampling approach. Experimental results show that RS-JSFD-MP can achieve better scheduling performance than existing greedy baseline algorithm, and can also obtain lower complexity by choosing an appropriate number of random samples. Moreover, RS-JSFD-MP facilitates parallel and distributed implementation, which helps to accelerate computation time to meet the real-time requirement on the resource scheduling algorithm.

Achieving high channel estimation accuracy and reducing hardware cost as well as power dissipation constitute substantial challenges in the design of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. To resolve these difficulties, sophisticated pilot designs have been conceived for the family of energy-efficient hybrid analog-digital (HAD) beamforming architecture relying on adaptive-resolution analog-to-digital converters (RADCs). In this paper, we jointly optimize the pilot sequences, the number of RADC quantization bits and the hybrid receiver combiner in the uplink of multiuser massive MIMO systems. We solve the associated mean square error (MSE) minimization problem of channel estimation in the context of correlated Rayleigh fading channels subject to practical constraints. The associated mixed-integer problem is quite challenging due to the nonconvex nature of the objective function and of the constraints. By relying on advanced fractional programming (FP) techniques, we first recast the original problem into a more tractable yet equivalent form, which allows the decoupling of the fractional objective function. We then conceive a pair of novel algorithms for solving the resultant problems for codebook-based and codebook-free pilot schemes, respectively. To reduce the design complexity, we also propose a simplified algorithm for the codebook-based pilot scheme. Our simulation results confirm the superiority of the proposed algorithms over the relevant state-of-the-art benchmark schemes.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a key enabler for ultrareliable communications. This paper optimizes transmit power for the initial transmission and the subsequent retransmissions of HARQ with either incremental redundancy or Chase combining, aiming to minimize the expected energy consumption given the target outage probability and the target latency. The main challenge is due to the fact that the outage probability is a complicated function of the power variables which are nested in successive convolutions. The existing works mostly use a classic upper bound to approximate the outage probability by assuming unbounded transmit power, then convert the original problem to a geometric programming (GP) problem. In contrast, we propose a novel and much tighter upper bound by taking the practical power limit into consideration. The new bound and the resulting new GP method are further extended to a broader group of channel models with various fading, multiple antennas, and multiple receivers. As shown in simulations, the GP method based on the new bound significantly outperforms the existing strategies that either fix transmit power or optimize power by the classic bounding technique.

Over-the-air computation (AirComp) has been recognized as a promising technique in Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks for fast data aggregation from a large number of wireless devices. However, the computation accuracy of AirComp highly depends on the devices with the worst channels condition, which degrades severely when the number of devices becomes large. To address this issue, we exploit the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) with hybrid beamforming, in order to enhance the computational accuracy of AirComp in a cost-effective manner. In particular, we consider the scenario with a large number of multi-antenna devices simultaneously sending data to an access point (AP) equipped with massive antennas for functional computation over the air. Under this setup, we jointly optimize the transmit digital beamforming at the wireless devices and the receive hybrid beamforming at the AP, with the objective of minimizing the computational mean-squared error (MSE) subject to the individual transmit power constraints at the wireless devices. To solve the non-convex hybrid beamforming design optimization problem, we propose an alternating-optimization-based approach, in which the transmit digital beamforming and the receive analog and digital beamforming are optimized in an alternating manner. In particular, we propose two computationally efficient algorithms to handle the challenging receive analog beamforming problem, by exploiting the techniques of successive convex approximation (SCA) and coordinate descent (CD), respectively. It is shown that for the special case with a fully-digital receiver at the AP, the achieved MSE of the massive MIMO AirComp system is inversely proportional to the number of receive antennas. Furthermore, numerical results show that the proposed hybrid beamforming design substantially enhances the computation MSE performance as compared to other benchmark schemes, while the SCA-based algorithm performs closely to the performance upper bound achieved by the fully-digital beamforming.

Covert communication prevents legitimate transmission from being detected by a warden while maintaining certain covert rate at the intended user. Prior works have considered the design of covert communication over conventional low-frequency bands, but few works so far have explored the higher-frequency millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum. The directional nature of mmWave communication makes it attractive for covert transmission. However, how to establish such directional link in a covert manner in the first place remains as a significant challenge. In this paper, we consider a covert mmWave communication system, where legitimate parties Alice and Bob adopt beam training approach for directional link establishment. Accounting for the training overhead, we develop a new design framework that jointly optimizes beam training duration, training power and data transmission power to maximize the effective throughput of Alice-Bob link while ensuring the covertness constraint at warden Willie is met. We further propose a dual-decomposition successive convex approximation algorithm to solve the problem efficiently. Numerical studies demonstrate interesting tradeoff among the key design parameters considered and also the necessity of joint design of beam training and data transmission for covert mmWave communication.

In this article, we propose a sparse hybrid combining (SHC) scheme for the uplink transmission of beamspace massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with low-resolution analog to digital converters (LADCs), to alleviate the performance bottleneck caused by the multi-user interference and quantization noise, with reduced hardware cost and power consumption. To this end, we formulate the optimization of the proposed SHC scheme as a system energy efficiency maximization problem under some practical constraints. The resulting problem contains the highly coupled nonconvex objective function, as well as the discrete binary constraints. By exploiting some fractional programming (FP) techniques and introducing auxiliary variables, we first recast the original challenging problem into a more tractable yet equivalent form. We then develop an efficient double-loop iterative algorithm based on the penalty dual decomposition (PDD) method to find its local stationary solutions. Finally, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed SHC scheme by numerical examples in terms of the achieved system energy efficiency.

Symbiotic radio (SR) is emerging as a spectrum-and energy-efficient communication paradigm for future passive Internet of Things (IoT), where some single-antenna backscatter devices, referred to as Tags, are parasitic in an active primary transmission. The primary transceiver is designed to assist both direct-link (DL) and backscatter-link (BL) communication. In multi-Tags SR systems, the transceiver designs become much more complicated due to the presence of DL and inter-Tag interference, which further poses new challenges to the availability and reliability of DL and BL transmission. To overcome these challenges, we formulate the stochastic optimization of transceiver design as the general network utility maximization problem (GUMP). The resultant problem is a stochastic multiple-ratio fractional nonconvex problem, and consequently challenging to solve. By leveraging some fractional programming techniques, we tailor a surrogate function with the specific structure and subsequently develop a batch stochastic parallel decomposition (BSPD) algorithm, which is shown to converge to stationary solutions of the GNUMP. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm by numerical examples in terms of the achieved system throughput.

In this article, relay-assisted computation offloading (RACO) is investigated, where user A wishes to share the results of computational tasks with another user B with the assistance of a mobile-edge relay server (MERS). To enable this computation offloading, we propose a hybrid relaying (HR) approach employing a pair of orthogonal frequency bands, which are, respectively, used for the amplify-forward relaying of computational results and the decode-forward relaying of the unprocessed raw tasks. The motivation here is to adapt the allocation of computing and communication resources both to dynamic user requirements and to diverse computational tasks. Using this framework, we seek to minimize the weighted sum of the execution delays and the energy consumption in the RACO system by jointly optimizing the computation offloading ratio, the bandwidth allocation, the processor speeds, as well as the transmit power levels of both user A and the MERS, under some practical constraints. By adopting a series of transformations, we first recast this problem into a form amenable to optimization and then develop an efficient iterative algorithm for its solution based on the concave-convex procedure (CCCP). By virtue of the particular problem structure in our case, we propose furthermore a simplified algorithm based on the inexact block coordinate descent (IBCD) method, which leads us to much lower computational complexity. Finally, our numerical results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed algorithms over the state-of-the-art benchmark schemes.

Pilot contamination is a limiting factor in multicell massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems because it can severely impair channel estimation. Prior works have suggested coordinating pilot design across cells in order to reduce the channel estimation error caused by pilot contamination. In this paper, we propose a method for coordinated pilot design using fractional programming to minimize the weighted mean squared-error (MSE) in channel estimation. In particular, we apply the recently proposed quadratic transform to the MSE expression which allows the effect of pilot contamination to be decoupled. The resulting problem reformulation enables the pilots to be optimized in closed form if they can be designed arbitrarily. When the pilots are restricted to a given set of orthogonal sequences, pilot optimization reduces to an assignment problem which can be solved by weighted bipartite matching. Furthermore, we consider the max-min fairness of data rates with orthogonal pilots and obtain an extension of the proposed method to correlated Rayleigh fading. Finally, simulations demonstrate the advantage of the proposed (orthogonal and nonorthogonal) pilot designs as compared with state-of-the-art methods in combating pilot contamination.

Massive connectivity is regarded as a key requirement for future networks to support new communication paradigms, where the human-type communications coexist with machine-type communications. Owing to the limited coherence time but the huge number of potential devices, it is impossible to allocate mutually orthogonal pilot sequence for all potential devices, which may impose severe interference on the device activity detection and channel estimation. Existing nonorthogonal pilot design methods for conventional cellular network are not suitable for the massive connectivity regime. To overcome this challenge, we first formulate the pilot sequences design as an optimization problem to minimize the average mean square error (MSE) of channel estimation under the individual power constraint. The proposed optimization problem is nonconvex and highly coupled. By exploiting some approximation techniques, we convert the problem into a more tractable form and subsequently develop a distributed algorithm based on the matrix fractional programming (FP) and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) methods. Simulations validates that the proposed scheme not only achieves significant gains in channel estimation over state-of-the-art baseline schemes, but also improves the device activity detection performance.

In a mobile edge computing (MEC) system with a large number of low power mobile terminals, proper computation offloading and resource allocation is crucial to achieving desirable system performance. In this paper, we consider the joint computation offloading and resource allocation problem for an uplink MEC system under the min-max fairness criterion. The proposed optimization problem is difficult to solve due mainly to the nonconvex nondifferentialbe objective and the nonlinear coupling of design variables in the constraints. By exploiting binary relaxation and introducing auxiliary variables, we first convert this problem into a more tractable form. We then develop a novel algorithm based on the concave-convex procedure (CCCP) technique to address the problem. Furthermore, by exploiting the problem structure, an efficient algorithm based on inexact block coordinate descent (IBCD) method is proposed to reduce the computational complexity. Numerical results validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.

Cooperative localization can compensate weaknesses of traditional localization techniques which do not operate well in harsh environment. However, cooperative localization signals increase the interference power for communication. In this work, we seek to joint localization and transmission power in order to maximize the transmission rate of secondary user under the power budget and primary users' outage constraints. At the same time, we consider the trade-off between localization error and localization interference when formulating the above problem in cooperative localization. The proposed optimization problem is nonconvex and highly coupled, which is challenging to solve. To simplify the problem, we introduce some auxiliary variables to the original optimal problem and apply a algorithm based on concave-convex procedure (CCCP). The simulation results demonstrate the advantages of location-aware network based on cooperative localization.

In massive MIMO aided cloud radio access network (C-RAN), plenty of remote radio heads (RRHs), each equipped with a massive MIMO array, are distributed within a specific geographical area and are connected to a centralized baseband unit (BBU) pool through fronthaul links. One major performance bottleneck in the uplink of massive MIMO aided C-RAN is that, the RRHs need to transport a huge amount of data to the BBU for baseband processings. Existing fronthaul compression methods that rely on fully-digital processing are not suitable for the massive MIMO regime due to their high implementation cost. To overcome this challenge, we propose a two-timescale hybrid analog-and-digital spatial compression scheme at RRHs to reduce the fronthaul data, where the analog filter is updated at a slow timescale according to the channel statistics to achieve massive MIMO array gain, and the digital filter is updated at a fast timescale according to the instantaneous effective channel state information (CSI) to achieve spatial multiplexing gain. Such a design can alleviate the performance bottleneck of limited fronthaul with reduced hardware cost and power consumption, and is more robust to the CSI delay. We propose an online algorithm for the two-timescale non-convex optimization of analog and digital filters. Simulations verify the advantages of the proposed scheme over state-of-the-art baseline schemes.

This paper investigates a multiuser mobile edge computing system under interference channels, where mobile users can offload their latency-sensitive (computation-intensive) tasks to the mobile edge server via a base station (BS). In this work, we seek to jointly optimize the user selection indicators for offloading and the computation resources, as well as the transmit power level of the offloading users in order to minimize the system energy consumption under latency-sensitive, computation and transmit power budget, transmission quality, and user selection constraints. The proposed optimization problem is nonconvex and highly coupled, which is difficult to solve. By exploiting binary relaxation and introducing auxiliary variables, we first convert this problem into a more tractable form. We then propose a concave-convex procedure (CCCP) based algorithm to obtain the resulting problem. Furthermore, a simplified algorithm is proposed to reduce the computational complexity. Simulation results are proposed to verify the proposed algorithms.

This paper considers a computational results sharing (CRS) system where user A wants to share its computational results with user B with the aid of a relay equipped with an mobile edge computing (MEC) server. The performance of the CRS systems can be greatly impacted by the relay forward protocol and resources allocation. To realize cooperative computation and communication in a relay aided mobile edge computing system, we develop a hybrid relay forward protocol and properly allocate the system computational and communication resources, where we seek to balance the execution delay and network energy consumption. The problem is formulated as a nondifferentialbe optimization problem which is nonconvex with highly coupled constraints. By exploiting the problem structure, we propose a lightweight algorithm based on inexact block coordinate descent method. Our results show that the proposed algorithm exhibits much faster convergence as compared with the popular concave-convex procedure based algorithm, while achieving good performance.