arXiv subjects

Shawn Tsai

Publications and source records attributed to Shawn Tsai.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Adaptive Payload-Aided Near-Field Beam Tracking via Thompson Sampling

Extremely large antenna arrays at high frequencies substantially extend the radiative near-field region in 6G networks, making mobile beam alignment depend jointly on user angle and range. The added range dimension enlarges the beam-search space, making repeated pilot-based sweeping costly under mobility, while sensing-assisted tracking depends on propagation conditions, echo quality, and target reflectivity. We propose an adaptive payload-aided near-field beam-tracking framework based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and Thompson sampling (TS). Selected received payload samples are fed back and reused as tracking observations, avoiding dedicated beam-sweeping symbols during tracking. Within each sliding window, local angle and range trajectories are modeled by low-order polynomials to capture velocity, acceleration, and higher-order motion variations, and are estimated by MLE using the spherical-wave channel model. A local Gaussian approximation centered at the MLE, with covariance from the inverse observed Fisher information, represents trajectory uncertainty. For payload transmissions selected for feedback, TS samples a trajectory hypothesis and maps it to a payload beam toward the sampled state, while the remaining transmissions use the MLE-predicted beam. To handle nonstationary mobility, an asymptotic chi-square characterization of in-window estimation risk motivates joint adaptation of observation-window length and polynomial degree, while online residual statistics adjust the update interval and feedback ratio. The framework is also extended to uniform planar arrays with elevation tracking. Simulations under smooth and sharp-turn trajectories show high payload-accounted mean normalized beamforming gain, low normalized-gain variance, and high effective-symbol reliability, while the adaptive mechanism provides substantial robustness under nonstationary sharp-turn mobility.

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arXiv2026

Efficient Near Field Beam Tracking via Thompson Sampling

The shift to the radiative near field region due to large antenna arrays necessitates beamforming that accounts for both angle and range, evolving mobility management into a joint angular range tracking challenge. Conventional schemes rely on rigid pilot payload structures with dedicated training slots, which interrupt data transmission and degrade spectral efficiency. To address this, we propose a pilot-free beam tracking framework leveraging Thompson sampling(TS). Within each sliding window, the user trajectory is modeled by local low-order polynomials in angle and range, and the motion parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood with uncertainty quantified via the Fisher information matrix. TS adaptively probes uncertain trajectory regions using beams that simultaneously serve as payload beams. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed framework maintains reliable connectivity while eliminating the overhead of dedicated pilot-based beam sweeping.

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arXiv2026

GP Bandit-Assisted Two-Stage Sparse Phase Retrieval for Amplitude-Only Near-Field Beam Training

The transition to Extremely Large Antenna Arrays (ELAA) in 6G introduces significant near-field effects, necessitating robust near-field beam training strategies in multi-path environments. Because signal phases are frequently compromised by hardware impairments such as phase noise and frequency offsets, amplitude-only channel recovery is a critical alternative to coherent beam training. However, existing near-field amplitude-based training methods often assume simplistic line-of-sight conditions. Conversely, far-field phase retrieval (PR) methods lack the sensing flexibility required to optimize training efficiency and are fundamentally limited by plane-wave models, making them ill-suited for near-field propagation. We propose a two-stage sparse PR framework for amplitude-only near-field beam training in multipath channels. Stage I performs adaptive support discovery on the standard 2D DFT beamspace by exploiting a physics-guided prior induced by near-field beam patterns. Stage II then refines the channel estimate by restricting sensing and sparse PR to the learned subspace. Numerical results show that the proposed adaptive pipeline consistently outperforms non-adaptive baselines, improving beamforming gain by over 70% at low SNR.

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arXiv2025

Precise Near-Field Beam Training with DFT Codebook based on Amplitude-only Measurement

Extremely large antenna arrays (ELAAs) operating in high-frequency bands have spurred the development of near-field communication, driving advancements in beam training and signal processing design. In this work, we present a low-complexity near-field beam training scheme that fully utilizes the conventional discrete Fourier transform (DFT) codebook designed for far-field users. We begin by analyzing the received beam pattern in the near field and derive closed-form expressions for the beam width and central gain. These analytical results enable the definition of an angle-dependent, modified Rayleigh distance, which effectively distinguishes near-field and far-field user regimes. Building on the analysis, we develop a direct and computationally efficient method to estimate user distance, with a complexity of O(1), and further improve its accuracy through a simple refinement. Simulation results demonstrate significant gains in both single- and multi-user settings, with up to 2.38 dB SNR improvement over exhaustive search. To further enhance estimation accuracy, we additionally propose a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) based refinement method, leveraging the Rician distribution of signal amplitudes and achieving accuracy close to the Cramer--Rao bound (CRB). Simulation shows the single-user and multi-user achievable rates can both approach those obtained with ideal channel state information.

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arXiv2025

Low-Complexity Near-Field Beam Training with DFT Codebook based on Beam Pattern Analysis

Extremely large antenna arrays (ELAAs) operating in high-frequency bands have spurred the development of near-field communication, driving advancements in beam training design. This paper introduces an efficient near-field beam training method that utilizes the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) codebook traditionally employed for far-field users (FUs). We begin by analyzing the received beam pattern and deriving closed-form expressions for its width and central beam gain as a function of user location. Building on these derived expressions, we propose a beam training method that estimates user distance from the received signal powers using DFT beams, with a computational complexity of O(1). Simulation results confirm the efficacy of our approach, demonstrating its ability to perform low-complexity near-field beam training with high estimation accuracy. Notably, our proposed scheme achieves up to a 1.96 dB SNR gain over exhaustive search methods in multi-user beamforming scenarios.

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arXiv2025

Sparsity-Aware Near-Field Beam Training via Multi-Beam Combination

This paper proposes an adaptive near-field beam training method to enhance performance in multi-user and multipath environments. The approach identifies multiple strongest beams through beam sweeping and linearly combines their received signals - capturing both amplitude and phase - for improved channel estimation. Two codebooks are considered: the conventional DFT codebook and a near-field codebook that samples both angular and distance domains. As the near-field basis functions are generally non-orthogonal and often over-complete, we exploit sparsity in the solution using LASSO-based linear regression, which can also suppress noise. Simulation results show that the near-field codebook reduces feedback overhead by up to 95% compared to the DFT codebook. The proposed LASSO regression method also maintains robustness under varying noise levels, particularly in low SNR regions. Furthermore, an off-grid refinement scheme is introduced to enhance accuracy especially when the codebook sampling is coarse, improving reconstruction accuracy by 69.4%.

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arXiv2024

OFDM Reference Signal Pattern Design Criteria for Integrated Communication and Sensing

Extended ambiguity performance (EAP), which includes all grating lobes and side peaks, indicates the maximum detectable region without undesired peaks for target parameter estimation and is critical to radar sensor design. Driven by EAP requirements of bi-static sensing, we propose design criteria for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) reference signal (RS) patterns. The design not only improves EAP in both time delay and Doppler shift domains under different types of sensing algorithms, but also reduces resource overhead for integrated communication and sensing. With minimal modifications of post-FFT processing for current RS patterns, guard interval is extended beyond conventional cyclic prefix (CP), while maintaining inter-symbol-interference-(ISI)-free delay estimation. For standard-resolution sensing algorithms, a staggering offset of a linear slope that is relatively prime to the RS comb size is suggested. As for super-resolution sensing algorithms, necessary and sufficient conditions of comb RS staggering offsets, plus new patterns synthesized therefrom, are derived for the corresponding achievable EAP. Furthermore, we generalize the RS pattern design criterion for super-resolution sensing algorithms to irregular forms, which minimizes number of resource elements (REs) for associated algorithms to eliminate all side peaks. Starting from staggered comb pattern in current positioning RS, our generalized design eventually removes any regular form for ultimate flexibility. Overall, the proposed techniques are promising to extend the ISI- and ambiguity-free range of distance and speed estimates for radar sensing.

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arXiv2024

Staggered Comb Reference Signal Design for Integrated Communication and Sensing

Ambiguity performance is a critical criterion in radar sensor design, which indicates the ambiguities arising from multiple target estimation and detection. We considered a requirement-driven selection of OFDM reference signal (RS) patterns based on ambiguity performances for bi-static sensing in integrated communication and sensing with minimal modifications of current RSs. An RS pattern with a staggering offset of a linear slope that is relatively prime to the RS comb size is suggested for standard-resolution sensing algorithms to obtain the best ambiguity performances. Moreover, an extended guard interval design is proposed to increase the maximum time delay, that is inter-symbol interference (ISI) free using post-FFT sensing algorithms. The proposed techniques are promising to extend the distance and speed without ambiguities and ISI for sensing.

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