arXiv subjects

Anastasios Papazafeiropoulos

Publications and source records attributed to Anastasios Papazafeiropoulos.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Cooperative RIS and STAR-RIS assisted mMIMO Communication: Analysis and Optimization

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has emerged as a cost-effective and promising solution to extend the wireless signal coverage and improve the performance via passive signal reflection. Different from existing works which do not account for the cooperation between RISs or do not provide full space coverage, we propose the marriage of cooperative double-RIS with simultaneously transmitting and reflecting RIS (STAR-RIS) technologies denoted as RIS/STAR-RIS under correlated Rayleigh fading conditions to assist the communication in a massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) setup. The proposed architecture is superior since it enjoys the benefits of the individual designs. We introduce a channel estimation approach of the cascaded channels with reduced overhead. Also, we obtain the deterministic equivalent (DE) of the downlink achievable sum spectral efficiency (SE) in closed form based on large-scale statistics. Notably, relied on statistical channel state information (CSI), we optimise both surfaces by means of the projected gradient ascent method (PGAM), and obtain the gradients in closed form. The proposed optimization achieves to maximise the sum SE of such a complex system, and has low complexity and low overhead since it can be performed at every several coherence intervals. Numerical results show the benefit of the proposed architecture and verify the analytical framework. In particular, we show that the RIS/STAR-RIS architecture outperforms the conventional double-RIS or its single-RIS counterparts.

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arXiv2023

Achievable Rate of a STAR-RIS Assisted Massive MIMO System Under Spatially-Correlated Channels

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS)-assisted massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) is a promising technology for applications in next-generation networks. However, reflecting-only RIS provides limited coverage compared to a simultaneously transmitting and reflecting RIS (STAR-RIS). Hence, in this paper, we focus on the downlink achievable rate and its optimization of a STAR-RIS-assisted mMIMO system. Contrary to previous works on STAR-RIS, we consider mMIMO, correlated fading, and multiple user equipments (UEs) at both sides of the RIS. In particular, we introduce an estimation approach of the aggregated channel with the main benefit of reduced overhead links instead of estimating the individual channels. {Next, leveraging channel hardening in mMIMO and the use-and-forget bounding technique, we obtain an achievable rate in closed-form that only depends on statistical channel state information (CSI). To optimize the amplitudes and phase shifts of the STAR-RIS, we employ a projected gradient ascent method (PGAM) that simultaneously adjusts the amplitudes and phase shifts for both energy splitting (ES) and mode switching (MS) STAR-RIS operation protocols.} By considering large-scale fading, the proposed optimization can be performed every several coherence intervals, which can significantly reduce overhead. Considering that STAR-RIS has twice the number of controllable parameters compared to conventional reflecting-only RIS, this accomplishment offers substantial practical benefits. Simulations are carried out to verify the analytical results, reveal the interplay of the achievable rate with fundamental parameters, and show the superiority of STAR-RIS regarding its achievable rate compared to its reflecting-only counterpart.

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arXiv2023

A Low-Complexity Solution to Sum Rate Maximization for IRS-assisted SWIPT-MIMO Broadcasting

This paper focuses on the fundamental problem of maximizing the achievable weighted sum rate (WSR) at information receivers (IRs) in an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) assisted simultaneous wireless information and power transfer system under a multiple-input multiple-output (SWIPT-MIMO) setting, subject to a quality-of-service (QoS) constraint at the energy receivers (ERs). Notably, due to the coupling between the transmit precoding matrix and the passive beamforming vector in the QoS constraint, the formulated non-convex optimization problem is challenging to solve. We first decouple the design variables in the constraints following a penalty dual decomposition method, and then apply an alternating gradient projection algorithm to achieve a stationary solution to the reformulated optimization problem. The proposed algorithm nearly doubles the WSR compared to that achieved by a block-coordinate descent (BCD) based benchmark scheme. At the same time, the complexity of the proposed scheme grows linearly with the number of IRS elements while that of the benchmark scheme is proportional to the cube of the number of IRS elements.

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arXiv2022

Cooperative Hybrid Networks with Active Relays and RISs for B5G: Applications, Challenges, and Research Directions

Among the recent advances and innovations in wireless technologies, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have received much attention and are envisioned to be one of the enabling technologies for beyond 5G (B5G) networks. On the other hand, active (or classical) cooperative relays have played a key role in providing reliable and power-efficient communications in previous wireless generations. In this article, we focus on hybrid network architectures that amalgamate both active relays and RISs. The operation concept and protocols of each technology are first discussed. Subsequently, we present multiple use cases of cooperative hybrid networks where both active relays and RISs can coexist harmoniously for enhanced rate performance. Furthermore, a case study is provided which demonstrates the achievable rate performance of a communication network assisted by either an active relay, an RIS, or both, and with different relaying protocols. Finally, we provide the reader with the challenges and key research directions in this area.

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arXiv2022

Impact of Channel Aging on Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Aided Massive MIMO Systems with Statistical CSI

The incorporation of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) into massive multiple-input-multiple-output (mMIMO) systems can unleash the potential of next-generation networks by improving the performance of user equipments (UEs) in service dead zones. However, their requirement for accurate channel state information (CSI) is critical, and especially, applications with UE mobility that induce channel aging make challenging the achievement of adequate quality of service. Hence, in this work, we investigate the impact of channel aging on the performance of RIS-assisted mMIMO systems under both spatial correlation and imperfect CSI conditions. Specifically, by accounting for channel aging during both uplink training and downlink data transmission phases, we first perform minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimation to obtain the UE effective channels with low overhead similar to conventional systems without RIS. Next, we derive the downlink achievable sum spectral efficiency (SE) with regularized zero-forcing (RZF) precoding in closed-form being dependent only on large-scale statistics by using the deterministic equivalent (DE) analysis. Subsequently, we present the attractive optimization of the achievable sum SE with respect to the phase shifts and the total transmit power that can be performed every several coherence intervals due to the slow variation of the large-scale statistics. Numerical results validate the analytical expressions and demonstrate the performance while allowing the extraction of insightful design conclusions for common scenarios including UE mobility. In particular, channel aging degrades the performance but its impact can be controlled by choosing appropriately the frame duration or by increasing the number of RIS elements.

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arXiv2022

Joint Spatial Division and Multiplexing for FDD in Intelligent Reflecting Surface-assisted Massive MIMO Systems

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a promising technology to deliver the higher spectral and energy requirements in fifth-generation (5G) and beyond wireless networks while shaping the propagation environment. Such a design can be further enhanced with massive multiple-input-multiple-output (mMIMO) characteristics towards boosting the network performance. However, channel reciprocity, assumed in 5G systems such as mMIMO, appears to be questioned in practice by recent studies on IRS. Hence, contrary to previous works, we consider frequency division duplexing (FDD) to study the performance of an IRS-assisted mMIMO system. However, FDD is not suitable for large number of antennas architectures. For this reason we employ the joint spatial division and multiplexing (JSDM) approach exploiting the structure of the correlation of the channel vectors to reduce the channel state information (CSI) uplink feedback, and thus, allowing the use even of a large number of antennas at the base station. JSDM entails dual-structured precoding and clustering the user equipments (UEs) with the same covariance matrix into groups. Specifically, we derive the sum spectral efficiency (SE) based on statistical CSI in terms of large-scale statistics by using the deterministic equivalent (DE) analysis while accounting for correlated Rayleigh fading. Subsequently, we formulate the optimization problem concerning the sum SE with respect to the reflecting beamforming matrix (RBM) and the total transmit power, which can be performed at every several coherence intervals by taking advantage of the slow-time variation of the large-scale statistics. This notable property contributes further to the decrease of the feedback overhead.

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arXiv2022

Coverage Probability of STAR-RIS assisted Massive MIMO systems with Correlation and Phase Errors

In this paper, we investigate a simultaneous transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS) assisting a massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) system. In particular, we derive a closed-form expression for the coverage probability of a STAR-RIS assisted mMIMO system while accounting for correlated fading and phase-shift errors. Notably, the phase configuration takes place at every several coherence intervals by optimizing the coverage probability since the latter depends on statistical channel state information (CSI) in terms of large-scale statistics. As a result, we achieve a reduced complexity and overhead for the optimization of passive beamforming, which are increased in the case of STAR-RIS networks with instantaneous CSI. Numerical results corroborate our analysis, shed light on interesting properties such as the impact of the number of RIS elements and the effect of phase errors, along with affirming the superiority of STAR-RIS against reflective-only RIS.

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arXiv2022

Impact of Phase-Noise and Spatial Correlation on Double-RIS-Assisted Multiuser MISO Networks

We study the performance of a phase-noise impaired double reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided multiuser (MU) multiple-input single-output (MISO) system under spatial correlation at both RISs and base-station (BS). The downlink achievable rate is derived in closed-form under maximum ratio transmission (MRT) precoding. In addition, we obtain the optimal phase-shift design at both RISs in closed-form for the considered channel and phase-noise models. Numerical results validate the analytical expressions, and highlight the effects of different system parameters on the achievable rate. Our analysis shows that phase-noise can severely degrade the performance when users do not have direct links to both RISs, and can only be served via the double-reflection link. Also, we show that high spatial correlation at RISs is essential for high achievable rates.

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arXiv2021

Ergodic Capacity of IRS-Assisted MIMO Systems with Correlation and Practical Phase-Shift Modeling

We focus on the maximization of the exact ergodic capacity (EC) of a point-to-point multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system assisted by an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). In addition, we account for the effects of correlated Rayleigh fading and the intertwinement between the amplitude and the phase shift of the reflecting coefficient of each IRS element, which are usually both neglected despite their presence in practice. Random matrix theory tools allow to derive the probability density function (PDF) of the cascaded channel in closed form, and subsequently, the EC, which depend only on the large-scale statistics and the phase shifts. Notably, we optimize the EC with respect to the phase shifts with low overhead, i.e., once per several coherence intervals instead of the burden of frequent necessary optimization required by expressions being dependent on instantaneous channel information. Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations verify the analytical results and demonstrate the insightful interplay among the key parameters and their impact on the EC.

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arXiv2021

Coverage Probability of Double-IRS Assisted Communication Systems

In this paper, we focus on the coverage probability of a double-intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) assisted wireless network and study the impact of multiplicative beamforming gain and correlated Rayleigh fading. In particular, we obtain a novel closed-form expression of the coverage probability of a single-input single-output (SISO) system assisted by two large IRSs while being dependent on the corresponding arbitrary reflecting beamforming matrices (RBMs) and large-scale statistics in terms of correlation matrices. Taking advantage of the large-scale statistics, i.e., statistical channel state information (CSI), we perform optimization of the RBMs of both IRSs once per several coherence intervals rather than at each interval. Hence, we achieve a reduction of the computational complexity, otherwise increased in multi-IRS-assisted networks during their RBM optimization. Numerical results validate the analytical expressions even for small IRSs, confirm enhanced performance over the conventional single-IRS counterpart, and reveal insightful properties.

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arXiv2021

Intelligent Reflecting Surface-assisted MU-MISO Systems with Imperfect Hardware: Channel Estimation, Beamforming Design

Most works in IRS-assisted systems have ignored the impact of the inevitable residual hardware impairments (HWIs) at both the transceiver hardware and the IRS while any relevant works have addressed only simple scenarios, e.g., with single-antenna network nodes and/or without taking the randomness of phase noise at the IRS into account. In this work, we aim at filling up this gap by considering a general IRS-assisted multi-user (MU) multiple-input single-output (MISO) system with imperfect CSI and correlated Rayleigh fading. In parallel, we present a general computationally efficient methodology for IRS reflect beamforming (RB) optimization. Specifically, we introduce an advantageous channel estimation (CE) method for such systems accounting for the HWIs. Moreover, we derive the uplink achievable spectral efficiency (SE) with maximal-ratio combining (MRC) receiver, displaying three significant advantages being: 1) its closed-form expression, 2) its dependence only on large-scale statistics, and 3) its low training overhead. Notably, by exploiting the first two benefits, we achieve to perform optimization with respect to the reflect beamforming matrix (RBM) that can take place only at every several coherence intervals, and thus, reduces significantly the computational cost compared to other methods which require frequent phase optimization. Among the insightful observations, we highlight that uncorrelated Rayleigh fading does not allow optimization of the SE, which makes the application of an IRS ineffective. Also, in the case that the phase drifts, describing the distortion of the phases in the RBM, are uniformly distributed, the presence of an IRS provides no advantage. The analytical results outperform previous works and are verified by Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations.

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arXiv2021

Scalable Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems: Impact of Hardware Impairments

Standard cell-free (CF) multiple-input-multiple-output (mMIMO) systems is a promising technology to cover the demands for higher data rates in fifth-generation (5G) networks and beyond. These systems assume a large number of distributed access points (APs) using joint coherent transmission to communicate with the users. However, CF mMIMO systems present an increasing computational complexity as the number of users increases. Scalable cell-free CF (SCF) systems have been proposed to face this challenge. Given that the cost-efficient deployment of such large networks requires low-cost transceivers, which are prone to unavoidable hardware imperfections, realistic evaluations of SCF mMIMO systems should take them into account before implementation. Hence, in this work, we focus on the impact of hardware impairments (HWIs) on the SCF mMIMO systems through a general model accounting for both additive and multiplicative impairments. Notably, there is no other work in the literature studying the impact of phase noise (PN) in the local oscillators (LOs) of CF mMIMO systems or in general the impact of any HWIs in SCF mMIMO systems. In particular, we derive upper and lower bounds on the uplink capacity accounting for HWIs. Moreover, we obtain the optimal hardware-aware (HA) partial minimum mean-squared error (PMMSE) combiner. Especially, the lower bound is derived in closed-form using the theory of deterministic equivalents (DEs). Among the interesting findings, we observe that separate LOs (SLOs) outperform a common LO (CLO), and the additive transmit distortion degrades more the performance than the additive receive distortion.

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arXiv2021

Toward Autonomous Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces Through Wireless Energy Harvesting

In this work, we examine the potential of autonomous operation of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) using wireless energy harvesting from information signals. To this end, we first identify the main RIS power-consuming components and introduce a suitable power-consumption model. Subsequently, we introduce a novel RIS power-splitting architecture that enables simultaneous energy harvesting and beamsteering. Specifically, a subset of the RIS unit cells (UCs) is used for beamsteering while the remaining ones absorb energy. For the subset allocation, we propose policies obtained as solutions to two optimization problems. The first problem aims at maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver without violating the RIS's energy harvesting demands. Additionally, the objective of the second problem is to maximize the RIS harvested power, while ensuring an acceptable SNR at the receiver. We prove that under particular propagation conditions, some of the proposed policies deliver the optimal solution of the two problems. Furthermore, we report numerical results that reveal the efficiency of the policies with respect to the optimal and very high-complexity brute-force design approach. Finally, through a case study of user tracking, we showcase that the RIS power-consumption demands can be secured by harvesting energy from information signals.

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arXiv2021

Asymptotic Analysis of Max-Min Weighted SINR for IRS-Assisted MISO Systems with Hardware Impairments

We focus on the realistic maximization of the uplink minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a general multiple-input single-output (MISO) system assisted by an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) in the large system limit accounting for HIs. In particular, we introduce the HIs at both the IRS (IRS-HIs) and the transceiver HIs (AT-HIs), usually neglected despite their inevitable impact. Specifically, the deterministic equivalent analysis enables the derivation of the asymptotic weighted maximum-minimum SINR with HIs by jointly optimizing the HIs-aware receiver, the transmit power, and the reflect beamforming matrix (RBM). Notably, we obtain the optimal power allocation and reflect beamforming matrix with low overhead instead of their frequent necessary computation in conventional MIMO systems based on the instantaneous channel information. Monte Carlo simulations verify the analytical results which show the insightful interplay among the key parameters and the degradation of the performance due to HIs.

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arXiv2021

Coverage Probability of Distributed IRS Systems Under Spatially Correlated Channels

This paper suggests the use of multiple distributed intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) towards a smarter control of the propagation environment. Notably, we also take into account the inevitable correlated Rayleigh fading in IRS-assisted systems. In particular, in a single-input and single-output (SISO) system, we consider and compare two insightful scenarios, namely, a finite number of large IRSs and a large number of finite size IRSs to show which implementation method is more advantageous. In this direction, we derive the coverage probability in closed-form for both cases contingent on statistical channel state information (CSI) by using the deterministic equivalent (DE) analysis. Next, we obtain the optimal coverage probability. Among others, numerical results reveal that the addition of more surfaces outperforms the design scheme of adding more elements per surface. Moreover, in the case of uncorrelated Rayleigh fading, statistical CSI-based IRS systems do not allow the optimization of the coverage probability.

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arXiv2021

Towards Optimal Energy Efficiency in Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems

Motivated by the ever-growing demand for \emph{green} wireless communications and the advantages of \emph{cell-free} (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, we focus on the design of their downlink for optimal \emph{energy efficiency} (EE). To address this fundamental topic, we assume that each access point (AP) is deployed with multiple antennas and serves multiple users on the same time-frequency resource while the APs are Poisson point process (PPP) distributed, which approaches realistically their opportunistic spatial randomness. Relied on tools from stochastic geometry, we derive a lower bound on the downlink average achievable spectral efficiency (SE). Next, we consider a realistic power consumption model for CF massive MIMO systems. These steps enable the formulation of a tractable optimization problem concerning the downlink EE per unit area, which results in the analytical determination of the optimal pilot reuse factor, the AP density, and the number of AP antennas and users that maximize the EE. Notably, the EE per unit area and not just the EE is the necessary metric to describe CF systems, where we meet multi-point transmission. Hence, we provide useful design guidelines for CF massive MIMO systems relating to fundamental system variables towards optimal EE. Among the results, we observe that a lower pilot reuse factor enables a decrease of the interference, and subsequently, higher EE up to a specific value. Overall, it is shown that the CF massive MIMO technology is a promising candidate for next-generation networks achieving simultaneously high SE and EE per unit area.

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arXiv2020

Performance Analysis of Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems: A Stochastic Geometry Approach

Cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) has emerged as an alternative deployment for conventional cellular massive MIMO networks. Prior works relied on the strong assumption (quite idealized) that the APs are uniformly distributed, and actually, this randomness was considered during the simulation and not in the analysis. However, in practice, ongoing and future networks become denser and increasingly irregular. Having this in mind, we consider that the AP locations are modeled by means of a Poisson point process (PPP) which is a more realistic model for the spatial randomness than a grid or uniform deployment. In particular, by virtue of stochastic geometry tools, we derive both the downlink coverage probability and achievable rate. Notably, this is the only work providing the coverage probability and shedding light on this aspect of CF massive MIMO systems. Focusing on the extraction of interesting insights, we consider small-cells (SCs) as a benchmark for comparison. Among the findings, CF massive MIMO systems achieve both higher coverage and rate with comparison to SCs due to the properties of favorable propagation, channel hardening, and interference suppression. Especially, we showed for both architectures that increasing the AP density results in a higher coverage which saturates after a certain value and increasing the number of users decreases the achievable rate but CF massive MIMO systems take advantage of the aforementioned properties, and thus, outperform SCs. In general, the performance gap between CF massive MIMO systems and SCs is enhanced by increasing the AP density. Another interesting observation concerns that a higher path-loss exponent decreases the rate while the users closer to the APs affect more the performance in terms of the rate.

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arXiv2019

Hybrid Precoding for Multi-User Millimeter Wave Massive MIMO Systems: A Deep Learning Approach

In multi-user millimeter wave (mmWave) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems, hybrid precoding is a crucial task to lower the complexity and cost while achieving a sufficient sum-rate. Previous works on hybrid precoding were usually based on optimization or greedy approaches. These methods either provide higher complexity or have sub-optimum performance. Moreover, the performance of these methods mostly relies on the quality of the channel data. In this work, we propose a deep learning (DL) framework to improve the performance and provide less computation time as compared to conventional techniques. In fact, we design a convolutional neural network for MIMO (CNN-MIMO) that accepts as input an imperfect channel matrix and gives the analog precoder and combiners at the output. The procedure includes two main stages. First, we develop an exhaustive search algorithm to select the analog precoder and combiners from a predefined codebook maximizing the achievable sum-rate. Then, the selected precoder and combiners are used as output labels in the training stage of CNN-MIMO where the input-output pairs are obtained. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method through numerous and extensive simulations and show that the proposed DL framework outperforms conventional techniques. Overall, CNN-MIMO provides a robust hybrid precoding scheme in the presence of imperfections regarding the channel matrix. On top of this, the proposed approach exhibits less computation time with comparison to the optimization and codebook based approaches.

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