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Emil Björnson

Publications and source records attributed to Emil Björnson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2026

Sparse Activation for Sustainable Cell-Free Massive MIMO Networks: Less is More

Motivated by the vision of making sixth-generation (6G) networks sustainable, we study the sparse antenna/array activation problems in uplink cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF mMIMO) networks. We first develop an antenna-level optimal bilinear equalizer (OBE) weighting framework, in which each access point-user equipment (AP-UE) pair is assigned a matrix-valued long-term weight to shape the contribution of individual antenna elements, thereby generalizing the conventional large-scale fading decoding (LSFD) strategy from scalar coefficients to antenna-element-aware weighting. Building on this structure, we formulate sparse antenna activation as structured sparsity-inducing mean square error (MSE) minimization problems, and design four activation schemes at two granularities: antenna-level and array-level, each with UE-specific and network-wide (all-UEs) variants. The resulting convex problems are solved efficiently via the proximal method with closed-form group-wise updates, while the network-wide schemes are modeled through hierarchical sparsity and handled by a tree-structured proximal operator. Numerical results under correlated Rician channels and a detailed power consumption model demonstrate that the OBE weighting scheme consistently improves spectral efficiency over the LSFD, with gains increasing with the number of antennas. Meanwhile, the studied sparse activation schemes can achieve substantial energy efficiency improvement and power reduction with controllable spectral efficiency loss.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2026

Joint Spatial and Spectral Hybrid Precoding for Multi-User MIMO-OFDM Systems

Millimeter wave (mmWave) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems operate over wide bandwidths and frequency-selective channels, making orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) a natural transmission scheme. In such systems, fully digital precoding is often impractical because the large antenna arrays require high hardware cost and power consumption, so hybrid precoding that combines digital and radio frequency (RF) processing is an attractive alternative. However, OFDM introduces high signal peaks that may cause clipping and generate out-of-band (OOB) emissions, while practical, nonideal phase shifters (PSs) at the RF precoder and user combiner suffer from phase errors. We study the problem of robust digital-RF precoding optimization for the downlink sum-rate maximization in multi-user (MU) MIMO-OFDM systems under maximum transmit power, clipping, and OOB emission mask constraints. The formulated maximization problem is nonconvex and difficult to solve. We propose a weighted minimum mean squared error (WMMSE) based block coordinate descent (BCD) method to iteratively optimize digital-RF precoders at the transmitter and digital-RF combiners at the users. Low-cost and scalable optimization approaches are proposed to efficiently solve the BCD subproblems. Extensive simulation results are conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approaches and exhibit their superiority relative to well-known benchmarks.

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arXiv2026

RIS-Assisted Survivable Backhaul Recovery in Small-Cell Systems

The increasing densification of small-cell networks substantially expands cable-based backhaul infrastructure, creating heightened vulnerability to cable link failures. This paper proposes a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted backup framework that exploits a key insight: during backhaul cable failures, base station (BS) radio components remain functional, enabling wireless backhaul traffic redistribution. Our framework maintains network connectivity by redistributing disconnected BS backhaul traffic to neighboring BSs through RIS-assisted wireless links. To maximize survivability across varying traffic conditions, we formulate a joint optimization problem that maximizes total resolvable backhaul traffic by jointly deciding BS selection, RIS phase shifts, and precoding vectors. The inherent non-convexity arising from coupling and quadratic fractional term is addressed through an alternating optimization algorithm that iteratively solves tractable convex subproblems via quadratic transformation. Comprehensive numerical evaluations demonstrate that the proposed RIS-enhanced framework significantly improves survivability from 58% to 72% under challenging high-intensity hotspot traffic conditions. Moreover, RIS provides the greatest gains for antenna-constrained systems by extending coverage to access more spare capacity of the distant BSs as well as enhancing the signal strength. Consequently, high survivability is achieved even with only two antennas per BS under moderate traffic intensity.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2026

Fractional Programming and Manifold Optimization for Reciprocal BD-RIS Scattering Matrix Design

We investigate the problem of maximizing the sum-rate performance of a beyond-diagonal reconfigurable intelligent surface (BD-RIS)-aided multi-user (MU)-multiple-input single-output (MISO) system using fractional programming (FP) techniques. More specifically, we leverage the Lagrangian Dual Transform (LDT) and Quadratic Transform (QT) to derive an equivalent objective function which is then solved iteratively via a manifold optimization framework. It is shown that these techniques reduce the complexity of the optimization problem for the scattering matrix solution, while also providing notable performance gains compared to state-of-the-art (SotA) methods under the same system conditions. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving sum-rate performance.

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arXiv2026

Sparse Array Design for Near-Field MU-MIMO: Reconfigurable Array Thinning Approach

Future wireless networks, deploying thousands of antenna elements, may operate in the radiative near-field (NF), enabling spatial multiplexing across both angle and range domains. Sparse arrays have the potential to achieve comparable performance with fewer antenna elements. However, fixed sparse array designs are generally suboptimal under dynamic user distributions, while movable antenna architectures rely on mechanically reconfigurable elements, introducing latency and increased hardware complexity. To address these limitations, we propose a reconfigurable array thinning approach that selectively activates a subset of antennas to form a flexible sparse array design without physical repositioning. We first analyze grating lobes for uniform sparse arrays in the angle and range domains, showing their absence along the range dimension. Based on the analysis, we develop two particle swarm optimization-based strategies: a grating-lobe-based thinned array (GTA) for grating-lobe suppression and a sum-rate-based thinned array (STA) for multiuser sum-rate maximization. Simulation results demonstrate that GTA outperforms conventional uniform sparse arrays, while STA achieves performance comparable to movable antennas, thereby offering a practical and efficient array deployment strategy without the associated mechanical complexity.

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arXiv2026

Reciprocal Beyond Diagonal Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface: Distributed Scattering Matrix Design and MIMO Beamforming via Fractional Programming and Manifold Optimization

We consider the optimization of beyond diagonal reconfigurable intelligent surface (BD-RIS)-aided multi-user (MU) cell-free (CF)-massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) systems, where the propagation environment design achieved scattering matrix optimization is complemented by developing an efficient base station (BS) beamforming (BF) scheme that effectively exploits the latter ``engineered'' channel. In particular, we describe a fractional programming (FP) method, which based on the equivalent channel incorporating a reciprocal BD-RIS (RBD-RIS) parameterized by existing scattering matrix design methods, yielding the correspondingly optimized multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) BF weights. The proposed approach decomposes the transmit (TX) beamformer into multiple sum-rate maximization (SRM) sub-beamformers, each satisfying an independent power-constraint, such that distributed MIMO-BF scenarios can be optimally handled. Although the proposed SRM-MIMO-BF framework is independent of the specific scattering matrix design, extending the BD-RIS-aided system model to the CF-mMIMO setting requires the design of a corresponding beamforming matrix. In this context, this work investigates the impact of beamforming in reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided systems. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method for designing the MIMO-BF weights, when combined with the previously developed design of reciprocal BD-RIS (RBD-RIS) scattering matrices, outperforms existing BD-RIS-aided state-of-the-art (SotA) schemes employing existing MIMO-BF techniques, indicating that the whole contribution is more than the sum of the parts.

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arXiv2026

Electromagnetic Signal and Information Theory: A Continuous-Aperture Array Perspective

Emerging wireless systems are evolving toward larger, denser, higher-frequency, and more reconfigurable apertures, which motivates the study of continuous-aperture arrays (CAPAs). Unlike conventional spatially discrete arrays (SPDAs), CAPAs are more naturally modeled as spatially continuous electromagnetic apertures and therefore call for a fundamental shift in both signal processing and information-theoretic analysis. In particular, the underlying channels, signals, and beamformers are no longer finite-dimensional vectors and matrices, but continuous fields and operators governed by Maxwell's equations. This paper provides a tutorial overview of CAPA systems from the perspective of electromagnetic signal and information theory (ESIT), with an emphasis on the transition from discrete array models to physics-consistent continuous-aperture formulations. We review the electromagnetic foundations of CAPAs, practical hardware implementations, line-of-sight and multipath channel modeling, continuous-space beamforming and channel estimation, and the fundamental degrees of freedom and capacity limits of CAPA systems. We also highlight how tools such as wavenumber-domain methods, functional analysis, and compressive sensing can transform challenging infinite-dimensional problems into tractable finite-dimensional ones while preserving the essential physical structure of the channel. Overall, this tutorial aims to clarify the key principles, analytical tools, and open challenges that shape CAPA-enabled wireless communications.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2026

Quantum Clock Synchronization Networks: A Survey

Quantum clock synchronization (QCS) aims to establish a shared temporal reference between distant nodes by exploiting uniquely quantum phenomena such as entanglement, single-photon interference, and quantum correlations. In contrast to classical synchronization and time-transfer techniques, which are limited by signal propagation delays, atmospheric disturbances, and oscillator drift, QCS protocols offer the potential to surpass classical precision bounds and enhance resilience against adversarial manipulations. As precise and secure time synchronization underpins distributed quantum networks, navigation systems, and emerging quantum Internet infrastructures, understanding QCS principles, capabilities, and implementation challenges has become increasingly important. This survey provides a unified and critical overview of the rapidly growing QCS research landscape, highlighting fundamentals, protocol types, enabling resources, performance constraints, security considerations, and practical implementations of QCS. We first introduce the theoretical underpinnings of QCS, including entanglement-assisted time transfer, Hong-Ou-Mandel interference-based synchronization, and quantum slow-clock transport. We then categorize the main QCS protocols, ranging from ticking-qubit and entanglement-based schemes to time-of-arrival correlation methods, conveyor-belt synchronization, and quantum-enhanced two-way time transfer. This organization clarifies the relationships between protocol families and their achievable precision advantages over classical methods. Key quantum resources such as spontaneous parametric down-conversion-based entangled photon pairs, Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W multipartite states, squeezed and frequency-entangled light, quantum frequency combs, and quantum memories are reviewed in the context of scalability and robustness.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2026

Near-field Boundary Distance in mmWave and THz Communications with Misaligned Antenna Arrays

Wireless communications in the millimeter wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) spectrum allow harnessing large frequency bands, thus achieving ultra-high data rates. However, the inherently short wavelengths of mmWave and THz signals lead to an extended radiative near-field region, where certain canonical far-field assumptions fail. Most prior works aimed to characterize this radiative near-field region either do not consider antenna arrays on both communicating nodes or, if they do, assume perfect alignment between the arrays. However, such assumptions break down in many realistic deployments, where both sides must employ large-scale mmWave/THz antenna arrays to maintain the desired communication range, while perfect antenna alignment cannot be guaranteed particularly under nodes mobility. In this work, a generalized mathematical framework is presented to characterize the radiative near-field distance in directional mmWave and THz communication systems under various realistic array rotations and misalignments. With the use of the developed framework, compact closed-form expressions are derived for the near-field boundary distance in a wide range of antenna configurations, including array-to-array and array-to-point setups, considering both linear and planar arrays. Our numerical study reveals that the presence of antenna misalignment may significantly adjust the boundaries of the near-field region in mmWave and THz communication systems.

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arXiv2026

Harnessing the Freedom of Non-Uniformity in Monostatic ISAC with Antenna Flexibility

This paper studies flexible non-uniform array design for monostatic integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems. An antenna pool is considered at the base station, where each candidate antenna can be dynamically assigned to transmit, receive, or inactive modes, such that a non-uniform effective array is jointly constructed with the ISAC precoding design. We formulate a sum communication rate maximization problem by jointly optimizing the ISAC beamforming schemes and antenna-mode assignment under sensing, power, and antenna mode constraints. We develop an alternating-optimization-based solution framework mainly with the aid of weighted minimum mean square error, continuous relaxation-based penalty, and successive convex approximation. Numerical results show that the proposed non-uniform array achieves higher sum-rates than the uniform-array baselines, with particularly large gains when the number of activated antennas is small. Moreover, the proposed non-uniform array can achieve, and in some cases exceed, the performance of uniform array baselines with substantially fewer activated antennas, highlighting geometry-aware non-uniform array design as a compelling alternative to brute-force antenna scaling-based array design.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2026

Pilot-Free Predictive Multi-User Beamforming via Sensing Management in Cell-Free Networks

This paper presents a sensing management frame- work for integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) within cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems to reduce pilot-based channel state information (CSI) acquisition overhead. Conventional communication systems rely on frequent channel estimation procedures that impose significant signaling overhead, consuming valuable time-frequency resources. To ad- dress this inefficiency, we propose a state-based architecture that partitions users into communication and sensing groups based on service requirements. When users are not requesting data, the system utilizes sensing capabilities to track their location. Upon receiving a communication request, the system transitions to communication mode, leveraging the tracked state for predictive beamforming to eliminate the need for uplink pilot training. We develop an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based tracking algorithm coupled with adaptive resource allocation strategies. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of inter-target interference and design a sensing management protocol that performs sensing operations only when necessary to maintain the accuracy of user location estimates. Simulation results demonstrate that the pro- posed EKF-based tracking and sensing management can support predictive beamforming with downlink spectral efficiency close to the perfect-CSI case, while requiring sensing only occasionally after an initial convergence period. The results also indicate that this performance is robust in a cell-free massive MIMO setup and can be achieved with practical sensing waveforms.

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arXiv2026

Symbol-Level Mask-Compliant Hybrid Precoding for Multi-User MIMO-OFDM Systems

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology is a crucial enabler for next-generation networks because it offers substantially greater available bandwidth. mmWave multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems cannot rely solely on fully digital precoding due to hardware costs. As a result, hybrid precoding, which combines digital baseband processing with RF precoding, has emerged as a practical solution that balances performance and implementation complexity. As mmWave links typically operate over wideband, frequency-selective channels, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is commonly used to mitigate dispersive effects, yet OFDM introduces practical drawbacks, including out-of-band (OOB) emissions from abrupt spectral transitions among subcarriers and additional spectral leakage induced by windowing. Moreover, nonideal phase shifters (PS) in the RF transmit precoder and the user combiner impose inherent implementation limits that result in phase errors. We investigate robust joint digital--RF precoder design for minimizing the downlink sum mean-squared error (MSE) in hybrid multi-user (MU) MIMO--OFDM systems subject to maximum transmit-power, clipping, and OOB spectral-mask constraints. The resulting optimization is nonconvex and challenging to solve. To address this, we develop a minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) based block coordinate descent (BCD) algorithm that alternates between updating the transmitter-side digital--RF precoders and the user-side digital--RF combiners. For each BCD subproblem, we propose computationally efficient and scalable, closed-form solution strategies suitable for practical implementation. Extensive simulations validate the proposed methods and show clear performance improvements over established benchmark schemes.

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arXiv2026

User Mobility Demands Near-Field Communications in Terahertz Band Wireless Networks Beyond 6G

Near-field propagation is often unavoidable at terahertz (THz) frequencies due to the large apertures needed for sufficient array gain, yet near-field operation complicates practical system design, especially under user mobility. This paper asks whether a mobile THz link can remain broadband, achieve the desired high rates and coverage, while operating exclusively in the radiative far field. To answer this question, we develop a proof-by-contradiction feasibility framework that jointly enforces (i) a far-field requirement based on the Fraunhofer distance and (ii) a reliability requirement specified by a target SNR at the worst-case link distance. We derive closed-form upper bounds on the far-field-feasible bandwidth for stationary and mobile links. We further incorporate practical misalignment through several UE rotation and mobility scenarios. Numerical results show that stationary THz links can remain far-field-only with physically realizable apertures while supporting extremely large bandwidths, whereas practical mobile THz systems cannot. In practically relevant mobile THz access settings, the far-field-feasible bandwidth becomes a severe limiting factor: achieving tens-of-GHz targets would require unrealistically high UE transmit power. A cross-band comparison further shows that far-field-only operation is largely attainable at sub-6~GHz and, to a significant extent, at mmWave for moderate bandwidths, while near-field-aware designs become essential for mobile THz access.

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arXiv2026

Movable Antenna Optimization for Multi-User MIMO Systems in Realistic Ray-Traced Propagation Environments

To meet the growing data traffic demand in future wireless systems, novel transmission architectures capable of adapting to complex propagation environments are required. Movable antenna (MA) systems have recently emerged as a promising approach, enabling the physical repositioning of antenna elements to exploit spatial degrees of freedom. However, existing studies largely rely on idealized or simplistic channel models, leaving open the question of whether the performance gains of MA systems persist under realistic propagation conditions. This paper investigates the performance of downlink multi-user MIMO systems with movable antennas using deterministic ray-traced channel models. A simulation framework combining three-dimensional ray tracing and field-response channel modeling is developed, and antenna positions are optimized using particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithms. Simulation results reveal that while simplified distance-based channel models predict large performance disparities between competing array configurations, realistic ray-traced channels significantly compress these differences, indicating that propagation effects dominate over pure array geometry optimization. Nevertheless, movable antenna systems retain strong effectiveness over conventional fixed arrays across different user distributions, array sizes, and multipath conditions, even in geometry-constrained propagation environments.

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arXiv2026

Network-Controlled Repeaters Under Power Amplifier Non-linearities

Network-controlled repeaters (NCRs) are a low-cost means to extend coverage and strengthen macro diversity in wireless networks. They operate in real time by amplifying and re-transmitting the incoming signal with only hardware-level delays, without requiring any channel state information (CSI) at the repeater itself. However, their power amplifiers (PAs) generate non-linear distortion that is jointly forwarded with the desired signal and can undermine multiuser performance unless the distortion statistics are exploited. This paper develops a distortion-aware (DA) uplink framework for repeater-assisted massive MIMO (RA-MIMO) under PA non-linearities. We adopt a memoryless third-order polynomial model for the repeater PA and characterize the achievable spectral efficiency (SE) using the Bussgang decomposition. Closed-form expressions are derived for the Bussgang gain matrix and the distortion covariance. We also design a DA combining vector that maximizes the effective signal-to-interference-plus-distortion ratio.

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arXiv2026

Stream-Adaptive Quantization and Power Allocation in Fronthaul-Constrained MIMO Systems

Many wireless systems divide the baseband processing between two locations, interconnected by a fronthaul. This paper examines the impact of fronthaul quantization on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Starting from a Bussgang-based analysis of quantized single-input single-output (SISO) channels, we extend the framework to MIMO and derive a capacity lower bound under fronthaul quantization, where the receive combining is performed before the quantization. To maximize the sum rate, we propose a joint bit and power allocation (JBP-Alloc) scheme that efficiently distributes fronthaul bits and transmit power across active data streams. Asymptotic analysis shows that uniform bit allocation becomes optimal at high SNR. Numerical results confirm that JBP-Alloc outperforms uniform allocation and quantization-unaware water-filling, and achieves the same performance as Greedy bit allocation but with substantially lower computational complexity.

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arXiv2026

Unlocking the Energy-Saving Potential in O-RAN Cell-Free Massive MIMO by Joint Orchestration of Radio, Wireless Fronthaul, and Cloud Resources

Network virtualization and cloudification in Open Radio Access Networks (O-RAN) enable joint orchestration of the processing and fronthaul resources, which are essential for realizing the energy-saving potential of cell-free massive MIMO networks. To harness this potential, we investigate cell-free massive MIMO deployed over an O-RAN architecture with a wireless fronthaul that removes the need for fiber deployment. We first model the end-to-end power consumption under wireless fronthaul. Then, we propose a joint orchestration framework for radio, fronthaul, and processing resources that minimizes end-to-end power consumption while satisfying user-equipment (UE) rate requirements and wireless-fronthaul constraints. Two algorithms are developed: a scenario-sampling/group-Lasso method for centralized precoding and a block-coordinate descent method for distributed precoding. Numerical results show that centralized precoding significantly outperforms distributed precoding. End-to-end resource orchestration provides up to 70% energy-savings compared to cloud-only orchestration and up to 15% compared to radio-only orchestration. Moreover, distributing the same total number of antennas across the coverage area, rather than concentrating them at a few radio units (RUs), substantially reduces network power consumption, demonstrating that cell-free massive MIMO can deliver both high performance and high energy efficiency in future mobile networks.

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arXiv2026

Performance Evaluation of Movable Antenna Arrays in Wideband Multi-User MIMO Systems

Future wireless networks are expected to support increasingly high data rates and user densities, motivating advanced multi-antenna architectures capable of adapting to dynamic propagation environments. Movable antenna (MA) arrays have recently emerged as an extension of massive MIMO, enabling physical repositioning of antenna elements to better exploit spatial diversity and mitigate inter-user interference. While prior studies report promising gains under idealized assumptions, their performance under realistic wideband multi-user operation remains insufficiently understood. This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of MA-enabled systems in practical uplink and downlink scenarios. A wideband OFDM system model is developed, and novel closed-form sum-rate expressions are derived for both uplink and downlink under linear and nonlinear processing. Hardware impairments are incorporated via an EVM-based model, from which a distortion-aware UL/DL duality is established and the resulting high-SNR sum rate ceiling is analytically characterized. In addition, the interactions between antenna position optimization, receiver processing, and user loading are examined, and performance is evaluated under both time-division duplexing (TDD) and frequency-division duplexing (FDD). The results show that movable antennas can provide noticeable gains in low-impairment regimes with strong multi-user interference, but these benefits are highly scenario-dependent and diminish under hardware-impairment-limited conditions or in rich-scattering environments. These findings highlight the importance of carefully assessing deployment conditions when considering antenna mobility as an alternative to conventional fixed array configurations.

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