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Xuesong Cai

Publications and source records attributed to Xuesong Cai.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

WiFo-2: a generalist foundation model unifies heterogeneous wireless system design

Emerging sixth-generation wireless systems are increasingly heterogeneous, with compatibility across diverse configurations, ubiquitous coverage, and expanded functionalities. Although deep learning has substantially benefited wireless system design, existing approaches are typically trained for specific system settings and scenarios with limited generalizability. Here we present WiFo-2, a space-time-frequency foundation model for unified wireless communications and sensing system design. Pretrained on a heterogeneous dataset of 11.6 billion channel state information (CSI) points, WiFo-2 learns generalized wireless representations across scenarios, configurations, and tasks, and exhibits scaling-law behavior. WiFo-2 achieves reliable and accurate zero-shot channel reconstruction, outperforming fully supervised task-specific models. With only 1% of the training samples required by supervised AI models, WiFo-2 achieves state-of-the-art performance across 9 distinct wireless tasks. A functional hardware prototype further demonstrates its real-world deployability and superior capability across diverse wireless tasks. This work provides a versatile wireless design framework and advances understanding of wireless channels.

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Vertical Sub-THz Channel Characterization: Sounder Implementation and Initial Measurements

We present a measurement-based characterization of indoor vertical ceiling-to-ground sub-THz channels in the 136-144 GHz band, motivated by ceiling-mounted radio-unit deployments for future distributed indoor networks. The measurements are performed using a vector network analyzer (VNA)-based channel sounder with a mechanically scanned planar virtual antenna array (VAA) at the receiver, enabling single-input single-output (SISO), small-array single-input multiple-output (SIMO), and large-array SIMO measurements in three indoor environments: an office, a laboratory, and a ventilation room. The small-array and large-array SIMO measurements synthesize 2 X 2 cm and 30 X 1 cm uniform rectangular arrays (URAs), respectively. The results show that the vertical links are generally dominated by a strong Line-of-Sight (LOS) component close to the ceiling-to-ground direction, but with clear environmental differences. The office and laboratory exhibit relatively limited delay dispersion, whereas the ventilation room shows stronger delayed multipath due to its corrugated metallic ceiling and surrounding metallic structures. The measured root mean square (RMS) delay spreads are 0.55-1.74 ns for the small-array measurements and 0.44-2.57 ns for the large-array measurements, smaller than those reported in several horizontal indoor sub-THz measurement campaigns at similar frequencies. However, the channel is not purely free-space. Repeatable second-order reflections involving the receiver table, ceiling, transmitter structure, and ceiling-mounted objects are observed in all environments. The large-array measurements further reveal spatial non-stationarity along the 30 cm aperture, with several multipath components visible only over limited parts of the array. These results show that ceiling materials, obstructions, and aperture-dependent variations matter in vertical sub-THz channel modeling.

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On the Feasibility of Human Presence Detection Using Ceiling-Mounted Sub-THz Channel Sounding: Conference Room Measurement

This paper presents a measurement-based investigation on the feasibility of human presence detection using a ceiling-mounted sub-THz channel sounder operating from 134 to 146~GHz. Wideband channel measurements were conducted in an indoor conference room under empty-room, human-present, and water-filled mannequin scenarios across five spatial positions. The measurements were performed using a vector network analyzer combined with sub-THz frequency extenders. Two antenna beamwidth configurations were used, one with a highly directive horn antenna on the transmitter side and one with a less directive, open-waveguide transmitter. The measured channel responses were transformed into calibrated power delay profiles and analyzed using normalized channel variation metrics in the delay domain. The results show that human detection is strongly dependent on target position relative to the ceiling-mounted transmitter and receiver as well as on antenna beamwidth. Furthermore, repeated empty-room measurements reveal that small environmental changes, such as slight furniture displacement, introduce non-negligible channel variations that must be considered when evaluating detection performance. In the wide-beam open-waveguide configuration, the human-present measurements produced lower values of the delay-domain variation metric than the repeated empty-room baseline, whereas the water-filled mannequin produced values at or above this baseline across all positions. With the directive transmitter, the human response exceeded the baseline significantly but only at favorable positions, especially P1 and P2, showing that the sensing response remains spatially selective. These findings provide experimental insight into the capabilities and limitations of ceiling-mounted sub-THz sensing for future integrated sensing and communication systems.

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Propagation Mechanism-Aware Near-Field Spatially Non-Stationary Channel Estimation and Environment Mapping

Extremely large aperture arrays (ELAAs) benefit the dual functions of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems by enabling high-throughput data streams and high angular resolution with near-field spatial diversity. However, near-field spherical wavefront effects and spatial non-stationarity (SNS) bring challenges to both communication and sensing. This paper studies near-field spatially non-stationary channel estimation and environment mapping by jointly accounting for multi-bounce, blockage-induced partial visibility, and hybrid reflection-scattering propagation. We propose a unified parametric sensing channel model that represents the SNS phenomenon (due to partial array blockage, diffraction, and specular reflection) through spatially varying visibility and amplitude of each multipath across the array. To regularize the spatially varying delays caused by propagation mechanisms, we incorporate geometric constraints (GCs) based on environmental interaction points, embedding them into the model as absolute propagation delays. We then develop a GC-space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (GC-SAGE) algorithm to estimate near-field channel parameters and locate environment scatterers/reflectors. Moreover, the GC-SAGE calculates per antenna path amplitudes based on the delays determined by the coordinates of scatterers/reflectors and transceivers, thereby effectively detecting channel SNS. Both ray-based simulation and field measurement are used to validate the proposed approach.

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Large Wireless Foundation Models: Stronger over Bigger

AI-communication integration is widely regarded as a core enabling technology for 6G. Most existing AI-based physical-layer designs rely on task-specific models that are separately tailored to individual modules, resulting in poor generalization. In contrast, communication systems are inherently general-purpose and should support broad applicability and robustness across diverse scenarios. Foundation models offer a promising solution through strong reasoning and generalization, yet wireless-system constraints hinder a direct transfer of large language model (LLM)-style success to the wireless domain. Therefore, we introduce the concept of large wireless foundation models (LWFMs) and present a novel framework for empowering the physical layer with foundation models under wireless constraints. Specifically, we propose two paradigms for realizing LWFMs, including leveraging existing general-purpose foundation models and building novel wireless foundation models. Based on recent progress, we distill two roadmaps for each paradigm and formulate design principles under wireless constraints. We further provide case studies of LWFM-empowered wireless systems to intuitively validate their advantages. Finally, we characterize the notion of "large" in LWFMs through a multidimensional analysis of existing work and outline promising directions for future research.

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WiFo-MUD: Wireless Foundation Model for Heterogeneous Multi-User Demodulator

Multi-user signal demodulation is critical to wireless communications, directly impacting transmission reliability and efficiency. However, existing demodulators underperform in generic multi-user environments: classical demodulators struggle to balance accuracy and complexity, while deep learning-based methods lack adaptability under heterogeneous configurations. Although diffusion models have been introduced for demodulation, their flexibility remains limited for practical use. To address these issues, this work proposes WiFo-MUD, a universal diffusion-based foundation model for multi-user demodulation. The model aligns inter-user signal-to-noise ratio imbalance and performs conditional denoising via a customized backbone. Furthermore, a communication-aware consistency distillation method and a dynamic user-grouping strategy are devised to enhance inference. WiFo-MUD achieves state-of-the-art results on large-scale heterogeneous datasets, demonstrating efficient inference and strong generalization across varying system configurations.

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Embodied Intelligent Wireless (EIW): Synesthesia of Machines Empowered Wireless Communications

The evolution toward the sixth-generation (6G) and beyond mobile communication systems is marked by a fundamental shift from merely connecting devices to enabling pervasive and embodied intelligence. While recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI)-native wireless communication designs have achieved remarkable progress, the prevailing paradigm remains limited to static, modular AI substitutions. This approach fails to meet the core requirements of future wireless networks: the ability to continuously perceive, adapt to, and interact with the dynamic wireless environment. To bridge this gap, this paper introduces Embodied Intelligent Wireless (EIW), a novel communication paradigm inspired by embodied intelligence, which redefines the communication node as an active, environment-aware, and evolving entity. EIW is built around an observation-decision-action paradigm, comprising: multi-dimensional observations for comprehensive awareness of the environment and system states, a unified decision module for orchestrating multiple wireless agents in an interpretable manner, and actions where wireless agents exert practical effects on both the environment and communication systems. Furthermore, two enabling technologies, wireless world models as well as self-update and self-evolution mechanisms, are introduced to support training efficiency improvement, counterfactual evaluation, and better adaptation. Unlike existing communication systems, EIW envisions future communication systems not as passive data pipelines, but as intelligent entities that continuously interact with and co-evolve alongside their environments. Finally, through simulations, we showcase the advantages of the proposed EIW paradigm and its enabling techniques in shaping the design of wireless communication nodes.

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Distributed MIMO Positioning: Fundamental Limit Analysis and User Tracking Framework Design

This paper presents a comprehensive study on the 3D positioning capabilities in distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Unlike previous studies that mainly rely on idealized isotropic antenna models, we adopt a polarimetric model that takes advantage of effective aperture distribution functions to characterize realistic antenna patterns, placements, and polarization effects. Based on this model, we analyze the fundamental limits of UE positioning using the Fisher information matrix (FIM) and the position error bound (PEB). The FIM is shown to be expressed as a weighted sum of the information contributions from individual access point (AP)-UE pairs, with each contribution interpreted geometrically across distance, azimuth, and elevation dimensions. The impact of the UE tilt and the spatial distribution of APs on the PEBs is further analyzed. As a further advancement, we propose a complete positioning framework from a UE tracking perspective. By integrating a global probability hypothesis density filter and a PEB-aware AP management strategy, the framework enables accurate tracking while optimizing AP scheduling. Finally, we present a distributed MIMO channel measurement campaign to validate the proposed framework. The results demonstrate a centimeter-level tracking accuracy. In addition, the PEB-aware AP management strategy is shown to maintain robust tracking performance while significantly reducing the number of concurrently active APs, thus lowering the overall system overhead.

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WiCo-MG: Wireless Channel Foundation Model for Multipath Generation via Synesthesia of Machines

Precise modeling of channel multipath is essential for understanding wireless propagation environments and optimizing communication systems. In particular, sixth-generation (6G) artificial intelligence (AI)-native communication systems demand massive and high-quality multipath channel data to enable intelligent model training and performance optimization. In this paper, we propose a wireless channel foundation model (WiCo) for multipath generation (WiCo-MG) via Synesthesia of Machines (SoM). To provide a solid training foundation for WiCo-MG, a new synthetic intelligent sensing-communication dataset for uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV)-to-ground (U2G) communications is constructed. To overcome the challenges of cross-modal alignment and mapping, a two-stage training framework is proposed. In the first stage, sensing images are embedded into discrete-continuous SoM feature spaces, and multipath maps are embedded into a sensing-initialized discrete SoM space to align the representations. In the second stage, a mixture of shared and routed experts (S-R MoE) Transformer with frequency-aware expert routing learns the mapping from sensing to channel SoM feature spaces, enabling decoupled and adaptive multipath generation. Experimental results demonstrate that WiCo-MG achieves state-of-the-art in-distribution generation performance and superior out-of-distribution generalization, reducing NMSE by more than 2.59 dB over baselines, while exhibiting strong scalability in model and dataset growth and extensibility to new multipath parameters and tasks. Owing to higher accuracy, stronger generalization, and better scalability, WiCo-MG is expected to enable massive and high-fidelity channel data generation for the development of 6G AI-native communication systems.

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WiCo-PG: Wireless Channel Foundation Model for Pathloss Map Generation via Synesthesia of Machines

A wireless channel foundation model for pathloss map generation (WiCo-PG) via Synesthesia of Machines (SoM) is developed for the first time. Considering sixth-generation (6G) uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV)-to-ground (U2G) scenarios, a new multi-modal sensing-communication dataset is constructed for WiCo-PG pre-training, including multiple U2G scenarios, diverse flight altitudes, and diverse frequency bands. Based on the constructed dataset, the proposed WiCo-PG enables cross-modal pathloss map generation by leveraging RGB images from different scenarios and flight altitudes. In WiCo-PG, a novel network architecture designed for cross-modal pathloss map generation based on dual vector quantized generative adversarial networks (VQGANs) and Transformer is proposed. Furthermore, a novel frequency-guided shared-routed mixture of experts (S-R MoE) architecture is designed for cross-modal pathloss map generation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed WiCo-PG achieves improved pathloss map generation accuracy through pre-training with a normalized mean squared error (NMSE) of 0.012, outperforming the large language model (LLM)-based scheme, i.e., LLM4PG, and the conventional deep learning-based scheme by more than 6.98 dB. The enhanced generality of the proposed WiCo-PG can further outperform the LLM4PG by at least 1.37 dB using 2.7% samples in few-shot generalization.

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3D Cooperative User Tracking for Distributed Integrated Sensing and Communication

As integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) becomes an integral part of 6G networks, distributed ISAC (DISAC) is expected to enhance both sensing and communication performance through its decentralized architecture. This paper presents a complete framework to address the challenge of cooperative user tracking in DISAC systems. By incorporating a global probability hypothesis density (PHD) filter and a field-of-view-aware access point (AP) management strategy, the framework enables accurate user tracking using radio signals while optimizing AP scheduling. In addition, a real-world distributed MIMO channel measurement campaign is performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework. The results demonstrate that a centimeter-level root mean-square trajectory error can be achieved. Furthermore, the results show that it is not necessary to keep APs active at all times to maintain high tracking accuracy, indicating the need for robust and efficient AP management. These findings provide valuable insights into practical deployments and the further development of cooperative user tracking techniques in DISAC systems.

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SynthSoM-Twin: A Multi-Modal Sensing-Communication Digital-Twin Dataset for Sim2Real Transfer via Synesthesia of Machines

This paper constructs a novel multi-modal sensing-communication digital-twin dataset, named SynthSoM-Twin, which is spatio-temporally consistent with the real world, for Sim2Real transfer via Synesthesia of Machines (SoM). To construct the SynthSoM-Twin dataset, we propose a new framework that can extend the quantity and missing modality of existing real-world multi-modal sensing-communication dataset. Specifically, we exploit multi-modal sensing-assisted object detection and tracking algorithms to ensure spatio-temporal consistency of static objects and dynamic objects across real world and simulation environments. The constructed scenario is imported into three high-fidelity simulators, i.e., AirSim, WaveFarer, and Sionna RT. The SynthSoM-Twin dataset contains spatio-temporally consistent data with the real world, including 66,868 snapshots of synthetic RGB images, depth maps, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds, millimeter wave (mmWave) radar point clouds, and large-scale and small-scale channel fading data. To validate the utility of SynthSoM-Twin dataset, we conduct Sim2Real transfer investigation by implementing two cross-modal downstream tasks via cross-modal generative models (CMGMs), i.e., cross-modal channel generation model and multi-modal sensing-assisted beam generation model. Based on the downstream tasks, we explore the threshold of real-world data injection that can achieve a decent trade-off between real-world data usage and models' practical performance. Experimental results show that the model training on the SynthSoM-Twin dataset achieves a decent practical performance, and the injection of real-world data further facilitates Sim2Real transferability. Based on the SynthSoM-Twin dataset, injecting less than 15% of real-world data can achieve similar and even better performance compared to that trained with all the real-world data only.

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Experimental Analysis of Multipath Characteristics in Indoor Distributed Massive MIMO Channels

Distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), also known as cell-free massive MIMO, has emerged as a promising technology for sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. This letter introduces an indoor channel measurement campaign designed to explore the behavior of multipath components (MPCs) in distributed MIMO channels. Fully coherent channels were measured between eight distributed uniform planar arrays (128 elements in total) and a 12-meter user equipment route. A method is introduced to determine the order (single- or multi-bounce) of MPC interaction by leveraging map information and MPC parameters. In addition, a Kalman filter-based framework is used for identifying the MPC interaction mechanisms (reflection or scattering/diffraction/mixed). Finally, a comprehensive MPC-level characterization is performed based on the measured channels, including the significance of single-bounce MPCs, common single-bounce MPCs, spherical wavefront features, birth-and-death processes of the MPCs, and spatial distribution of reflections. The findings serve as a valuable reference for understanding the propagation behavior of MPCs, which is necessary for future modeling of indoor distributed MIMO channels.

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Low-Complexity Optimization of Antenna Switching Schemes for Dynamic Channel Sounding

Understanding wireless channels is crucial for the design of wireless systems. For mobile communication, sounders and antenna arrays with short measurement times are required to simultaneously capture the dynamic and spatial channel characteristics. Switched antenna arrays are an attractive option that can overcome the high cost of real arrays and the long measurement times of virtual arrays. Optimization of the switching sequences is then essential to avoid aliasing and increase the accuracy of channel parameter estimates. This paper provides a novel and comprehensive analysis of the design of switching sequences. We first review the conventional spatio-temporal ambiguity function, extend it to dual-polarized antenna arrays, and analyze its prohibitive complexity when applied to ultra-massive antenna arrays. We thus propose a new method that uses the Fisher information matrix to tackle the estimation accuracy. We also propose to minimize the ambiguity by choosing a switching sequence that minimizes side lobes in its Fourier spectrum. In this sense, we divide the sequence design problem into Fourier-based ambiguity reduction and Fisher-based accuracy improvement, and coin the resulting design approach as Fourier-Fisher. Simulations and measurements show that the Fourier-Fisher approach achieves identical performance and significantly lower computational complexity than that of the conventional ambiguity-based approach.

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LLM4MG: Adapting Large Language Model for Multipath Generation via Synesthesia of Machines

Based on Synesthesia of Machines (SoM), a large language model (LLM) is adapted for multipath generation (LLM4MG) for the first time. Considering a typical sixth-generation (6G) vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) scenario, a new multi-modal sensing-communication dataset is constructed, named SynthSoM-V2I, including channel multipath information, millimeter wave (mmWave) radar sensory data, RGB-D images, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds. Based on the SynthSoM-V2I dataset, the proposed LLM4MG leverages Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA) 3.2 for multipath generation via multi-modal sensory data. The proposed LLM4MG aligns the multi-modal feature space with the LLaMA semantic space through feature extraction and fusion networks. To further achieve general knowledge transfer from the pre-trained LLaMA for multipath generation via multi-modal sensory data, the low-rank adaptation (LoRA) parameter-efficient fine-tuning and propagation-aware prompt engineering are exploited. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed LLM4MG outperforms conventional deep learning-based methods in terms of line-of-sight (LoS)/non-LoS (NLoS) classification with accuracy of 92.76%, multipath power/delay generation precision with normalized mean square error (NMSE) of 0.099/0.032, and cross-vehicular traffic density (VTD), cross-band, and cross-scenario generalization. The utility of the proposed LLM4MG is validated by real-world generalization. The necessity of high-precision multipath generation for system design is also demonstrated by channel capacity comparison.

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Scatterer Localization Using Multi-Bounce Paths

Indoor sensing is challenging because of the multi-bounce effect, spherical wavefront, and spatial nonstationarity (SNS) of the near-field effect. This paper addresses radio-based environment sensing considering these issues. Specifically, graph theory (GT) is used to model the multi-bounce propagation of the near field. In this manner, indoor reflectors/scatterers are modeled as vertices in a propagation graph, the multi-bounce paths are modeled by the edges linking the vertices. Besides, the coupled multipath parameters in the near field, i.e., range and angles, are denoted directly by the coordinates of vertices. Then, the space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (SAGE) algorithm is adapted to the proposed Graph theory-based dictionary-aided Multi-bounce SAGE (GM-SAGE), where the searching parameters including range and angle of departure/arrival (AoD/AoA) are transformed to the coordinates of scatterers in the graph. The proposed algorithm is validated through measurement-calibrated ray tracing (RT) in a complex indoor office. The results demonstrate that the proposed GM-SAGE can deal with multi-bounce channels.

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Environment Reconstruction in Multi-Bounce Channels with Array Partial Blockage

Extremely-large antenna arrays (ELAA) are important in applications requiring high angular resolution. However, a prominent issue is the spatial non-stationary (SNS) channels due to partial blockage to the ELAA. In this paper, we address the scatterer localization and subsequent environment reconstruction considering partially blocked SNS channels. Specifically, the SNS effects are parametrically modeled through spatial-varying amplitudes with sparsity. Based on the established signal model, the graph-based dictionary-aided multi-bounce space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (GM-SAGE) algorithm is applied to estimate the channel parameters and the channel sparsity is empirically detected along with amplitude estimation. To validate the proposed approach, we generate multi-bounce paths through ray tracing (RT) simulations, where the SNS channels caused by partial blockage could be configured flexibly. The simulation results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approach in dealing with the SNS channels.

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Multi-Modal Intelligent Channel Modeling Framework for 6G-Enabled Networked Intelligent Systems

The design and technology development of 6G-enabled networked intelligent systems needs an accurate real-time channel model as the cornerstone. However, with the new requirements of 6G-enabled networked intelligent systems, the conventional channel modeling methods face many limitations. Fortunately, the multi-modal sensors equipped on the intelligent agents bring timely opportunities, i.e., the intelligent integration and mutually beneficial mechanism between communications and multi-modal sensing could be investigated based on the artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. In this case, the mapping relationship between physical environment and electromagnetic channel could be explored via Synesthesia of Machines (SoM). This article presents a novel multi-modal intelligent channel modeling (MMICM) framework for 6G-enabled networked intelligent systems, which establishes a nonlinear model between multi-modal sensing and channel characteristics, including large-scale and small-scale channel characteristics. The architecture and features of proposed intelligent modeling framework are expounded and the key technologies involved are also analyzed. Finally, the system-engaged applications and potential research directions of MMICM framework are outlined.

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