Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) is one of the core technologies of 6G, which combines sensing and communication functions into a single system. However, limited computing and storage resources make it impractical to combine multiple sensing models into a single device, constraining the system's function and performance. Therefore, this article proposes enhancing ISAC with the mixture of experts (MoE) architecture. Rigorously, we first investigate ISAC and MoE, including their concepts, advantages, and applications. Then, we explore how MoE can enhance ISAC from the perspectives of signal processing and network optimization. Building on this, we propose an MoE based ISAC framework, which uses a gating network to selectively activate multiple experts in handling sensing tasks under given communication conditions, thereby improving the overall performance. The case study demonstrates that the proposed framework can effectively increase the accuracy and robustness in detecting targets by using wireless communication signal, providing strong support for the practical deployment and applications of the ISAC system.
As a form of artificial intelligence (AI) technology based on interactive learning, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has been widely applied across various fields and has achieved remarkable accomplishments. However, DRL faces certain limitations, including low sample efficiency and poor generalization. Therefore, we present how to leverage generative AI (GAI) to address these issues above and enhance the performance of DRL algorithms in this paper. We first introduce several classic GAI and DRL algorithms and demonstrate the applications of GAI-enhanced DRL algorithms. Then, we discuss how to use GAI to improve DRL algorithms from the data and policy perspectives. Subsequently, we introduce a framework that demonstrates an actual and novel integration of GAI with DRL, i.e., GAI-enhanced DRL. Additionally, we provide a case study of the framework on UAV-assisted integrated near-field/far-field communication to validate the performance of the proposed framework. Moreover, we present several future directions. Finally, the related code is available at: https://xiewenwen22.github.io/GAI-enhanced-DRL.
Near-space airship-borne communication network is recognized to be an indispensable component of the future integrated ground-air-space network thanks to airships' advantage of long-term residency at stratospheric altitudes, but it urgently needs reliable and efficient Airship-to-X link. To improve the transmission efficiency and capacity, this paper proposes to integrate semantic communication with massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. Specifically, we propose a deep joint semantic coding and beamforming (JSCBF) scheme for airship-based massive MIMO image transmission network in space, in which semantics from both source and channel are fused to jointly design the semantic coding and physical layer beamforming. First, we design two semantic extraction networks to extract semantics from image source and channel state information, respectively. Then, we propose a semantic fusion network that can fuse these semantics into complex-valued semantic features for subsequent physical-layer transmission. To efficiently transmit the fused semantic features at the physical layer, we then propose the hybrid data and model-driven semantic-aware beamforming networks. At the receiver, a semantic decoding network is designed to reconstruct the transmitted images. Finally, we perform end-to-end deep learning to jointly train all the modules, using the image reconstruction quality at the receivers as a metric. The proposed deep JSCBF scheme fully combines the efficient source compressibility and robust error correction capability of semantic communication with the high spectral efficiency of massive MIMO, achieving a significant performance improvement over existing approaches.
Although reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have demonstrated the potential to boost network capacity and expand coverage by adjusting their electromagnetic properties, existing RIS architectures have certain limitations, such as double-fading attenuation and restricted half-space coverage. In this article, we delve into the progressive development from single to multi-functional RIS (MF-RIS) that enables simultaneous signal amplification, reflection, and refraction. We begin by detailing the hardware design and signal model that distinguish MF-RIS from traditional RISs. Subsequently, we introduce the key technologies underpinning MF-RIS-aided communications, along with the fundamental issues and challenges inherent to its deployment. We then outline the promising applications of MFRIS in the realm of communication, sensing, and computation systems, highlighting its transformative impact on these domains. Lastly, we present simulation results to demonstrate the superiority of MF-RIS in enhancing network performance in terms of spectral efficiency.
Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) opens up new service possibilities for sixth-generation (6G) systems, where both communication and sensing (C&S) functionalities co-exist by sharing the same hardware platform and radio resource. In this paper, we investigate the waveform design problem in a downlink multi-user and multi-target ISAC system under different C&S performance preferences. The multi-user interference (MUI) may critically degrade the communication performance. To eliminate the MUI, we employ the constructive interference mechanism into the ISAC system, which saves the power budget for communication. However, due to the conflict between C&S metrics, it is intractable for the ISAC system to achieve the optimal performance of C&S objective simultaneously. Therefore, it is important to strike a tradeoff between C&S objectives. By virtue of the multi-objective optimization theory, we propose a weighted Tchebycheff-based transformation method to re-frame the C&S trade-off problem as a Pareto-optimal problem, thus effectively tackling the constraints in ISAC systems. Finally, simulation results reveal the trade-off relation between C&S performances, which provides insights for the flexible waveform design under different C&S performance preferences in MIMO-ISAC systems.
Point clouds have become increasingly vital across various applications thanks to their ability to realistically depict 3D objects and scenes. Nevertheless, effectively compressing unstructured, high-precision point cloud data remains a significant challenge. In this paper, we present a pioneering point cloud compression framework capable of handling both geometry and attribute components. Unlike traditional approaches and existing learning-based methods, our framework utilizes two coordinate-based neural networks to implicitly represent a voxelized point cloud. The first network generates the occupancy status of a voxel, while the second network determines the attributes of an occupied voxel. To tackle an immense number of voxels within the volumetric space, we partition the space into smaller cubes and focus solely on voxels within non-empty cubes. By feeding the coordinates of these voxels into the respective networks, we reconstruct the geometry and attribute components of the original point cloud. The neural network parameters are further quantized and compressed. Experimental results underscore the superior performance of our proposed method compared to the octree-based approach employed in the latest G-PCC standards. Moreover, our method exhibits high universality when contrasted with existing learning-based techniques.
As the demands for immediate and effective responses increase in both civilian and military domains, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms emerge as effective solutions, in which multiple cooperative UAVs can work together to achieve specific goals. However, how to manage such complex systems to ensure real-time adaptability lack sufficient researches. Hence, in this paper, we propose the cooperative cognitive dynamic system (CCDS), to optimize the management for UAV swarms. CCDS leverages a hierarchical and cooperative control structure that enables real-time data processing and decision. Accordingly, CCDS optimizes the UAV swarm management via dynamic reconfigurability and adaptive intelligent optimization. In addition, CCDS can be integrated with the biomimetic mechanism to efficiently allocate tasks for UAV swarms. Further, the distributed coordination of CCDS ensures reliable and resilient control, thus enhancing the adaptability and robustness. Finally, the potential challenges and future directions are analyzed, to provide insights into managing UAV swarms in dynamic heterogeneous networking.
Although reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) can improve the secrecy communication performance of wireless users, it still faces challenges such as limited coverage and double-fading effect. To address these issues, in this paper, we utilize a novel multi-functional RIS (MF-RIS) to enhance the secrecy performance of wireless users, and investigate the physical layer secrecy problem in non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) networks. Specifically, we derive closed-form expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and secrecy throughput of users in the MF-RIS-assisted NOMA networks with external and internal eavesdroppers. The asymptotic expressions for SOP and secrecy diversity order are also analyzed under high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Additionally, we examine the impact of receiver hardware limitations and error transmission-induced imperfect successive interference cancellation (SIC) on the secrecy performance. Numerical results indicate that: i) under the same power budget, the secrecy performance achieved by MF-RIS significantly outperforms active RIS and simultaneously transmitting and reflecting RIS; ii) with increasing power budget, residual interference caused by imperfect SIC surpasses thermal noise as the primary factor affecting secrecy capacity; and iii) deploying additional elements at the MF-RIS brings significant secrecy enhancements for the external eavesdropping scenario, in contrast to the internal eavesdropping case.
Integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) is pivotal for 6G communications and is boosted by the rapid development of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs). Using the channel state information (CSI) across multiple frequency bands, RIS-aided multi-band ISAC systems can potentially track users' positions with high precision. Though tracking with CSI is desirable as no communication overheads are incurred, it faces challenges due to the multi-modalities of CSI samples, irregular and asynchronous data traffic, and sparse labeled data for learning the tracking function. This paper proposes the X2Track framework, where we model the tracking function by a hierarchical architecture, jointly utilizing multi-modal CSI indicators across multiple bands, and optimize it in a cross-domain manner, tackling the sparsity of labeled data for the target deployment environment (namely, target domain) by adapting the knowledge learned from another environment (namely, source domain). Under X2Track, we design an efficient deep learning algorithm to minimize tracking errors, based on transformer neural networks and adversarial learning techniques. Simulation results verify that X2Track achieves decimeter-level axial tracking errors even under scarce UL data traffic and strong interference conditions and can adapt to diverse deployment environments with fewer than 5% training data, or equivalently, 5 minutes of UE tracks, being labeled.
By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) has revolutionized many fields. However, AIoT is facing the challenges of energy consumption and carbon emissions due to the continuous advancement of mobile technology. Fortunately, Generative AI (GAI) holds immense potential to reduce carbon emissions of AIoT due to its excellent reasoning and generation capabilities. In this article, we explore the potential of GAI for carbon emissions reduction and propose a novel GAI-enabled solution for low-carbon AIoT. Specifically, we first study the main impacts that cause carbon emissions in AIoT, and then introduce GAI techniques and their relations to carbon emissions. We then explore the application prospects of GAI in low-carbon AIoT, focusing on how GAI can reduce carbon emissions of network components. Subsequently, we propose a Large Language Model (LLM)-enabled carbon emission optimization framework, in which we design pluggable LLM and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) modules to generate more accurate and reliable optimization problems. Furthermore, we utilize Generative Diffusion Models (GDMs) to identify optimal strategies for carbon emission reduction. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Finally, we insightfully provide open research directions for low-carbon AIoT.