arXiv subjects

Zhiqing Wei

Publications and source records attributed to Zhiqing Wei.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

GML-Based Optimization for Movable Antenna Wireless Networks: Challenges and Opportunities

Movable antenna (MA) is proposed as an emerging technology for future wireless networks. By leveraging the additional spatial degrees of freedom, MA can proactively reshape the wireless propagation environment, thereby enhancing network performance.However, fully unlocking the potential of MA networks necessitates the joint optimization of MA antenna positioning and beamforming. For this non-convex and highly coupled problem, existing solutions exhibit significant limitations. Therefore, this paper proposes a gradient-based meta learning (GML) optimization framework. Specifically, we first elaborate on the hardware architecture and channel characteristics of MA, based on which we analyze the primary challenges in optimizing MA wireless networks. Subsequently, we introduce the fundamental logic of the GML framework and compare it with existing methods. Furthermore, we discuss the constraint handling strategies for applying the proposed optimization framework to MA networks. A specific case is studied to show the performance of proposed framework based on numerical simulation. Finally, this paper outlines future research directions for both the GML framework and MA wireless networks.

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arXiv2026

Joint Optimization for Federated Learning and Transmission over Unreliable Wireless Networks with Heterogeneous Data

In wireless federated learning (FL), data heterogeneity and multiple local updates induce client drift, degrading model convergence. It is further affected by unreliable wireless links, as transmission errors may invalidate model updates. To address these challenges, we propose a federated random walk averaging (FedRW) framework, which is a variant of federated averaging (FedAvg) that mitigates data heterogeneity by updating models along random walk (RW) paths and aggregating them at the server. Model parameters are transmitted in packets with retransmission support to improve training quality by mitigating wireless errors along RW paths. Meanwhile, wireless transmission delays hinder the exploration of FedRW. To this end, we formulate a joint optimization problem that integrates learning, RW path selection, and transmission parameter tuning, aiming to minimize the training loss under delay constraints. By deriving an upper bound on the expected convergence of FedRW over unreliable wireless networks, we reduce the problem to a general form agnostic to task type and model architecture. A distributed solution is then proposed, in which the server or clients optimize packet size and maximum number of retransmissions locally, and efficiently select reliable and expandable next-hop nodes via a resilience-aware beam search with dynamic pruning. Simulation results show that FedRW achieves 2.26%-9% higher accuracy than state-of-the-art baselines under high data heterogeneity. Furthermore, the jointly optimized FedRW yields at least 2.78% higher accuracy and faster convergence compared to baselines.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2026

Antenna Positioning and Beamforming Optimization in MA Enabled Secure ISAC Systems: A Gradient-Based Meta Learning Approach

Integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) significantly improves spectral efficiency but introduces security risks regarding the interception of embedded communication signals. This paper proposes an movable antenna (MA)-enabled secure ISAC system that utilizes the spatial degrees of freedom of MA to mitigate these risks. Then, a problem is formulated to maximize the system secrecy rate by jointly optimizing antenna positioning, transmit beamforming, and artificial noise. However, the principal challenge arises from the non-convexity of the optimization problem and the strong coupling of the optimization variables. Generally, traditional optimization methods for this problem suffer from complex mathematical derivations, while existing deep learning approaches rely heavily on the training data distribution. To address these issues, we introduce a gradient-based meta learning (GML) algorithm, which works without pre-training and demonstrates favorable performance. Specifically, the algorithm establishes a neural network for each optimization variable, where the gradient of the objective function with respect to the variable serves as the input, and the output of the network determines the variable's update step. By handling the constraints and constructing penalty terms, the global loss function is used to guide the optimization process. Extensive numerical simulations confirm that the proposed algorithm achieves satisfactory performance in terms of both communication security and sensing capabilities.

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arXiv2026

DMSNet: Cross-Band Learning for Multi-Target Sensing in Multi-Band ISAC

Multi-band integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) offers complementary high- and low-frequency echo information for multi-target sensing. However, existing dual-band ISAC sensing methods have a limited ability to exploit deep complementary information across heterogeneous bands and often incur high computational costs. To address these limitations, we propose a Dual-Band Multi-Target Sensing Neural Network (DMSNet) for joint target number and parameter estimation. Under representative simulation conditions, DMSNet outperforms the best baseline in target number estimation, increasing count accuracy from 89.01 % to 91.74 % and Macro-F1 from 90.80 % to 93.07 %. For parameter estimation, compared with the best baselines, DMSNet reduces the median absolute errors of range, velocity, and angle by 82.2%, 56.9%, and 73.2%, respectively. Moreover, DMSNet reduces runtime by 68.7 % relative to the fastest existing dual-band ISAC sensing method.

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arXiv2026

Beyond Single-Band: Analysis and Resource Allocation for Multi-band ISAC Systems

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has emerged as a pivotal technology for sixth-generation wireless networks to empower high-precision sensing. The demand for superior sensing resolution and the reality of spectrum fragmentation have driven the research of multi-band ISAC. Multi-band ISAC provides frequency diversity through independent observations across disparate bands, mitigating sensing performance fluctuations caused by frequency-selective radar cross-section compared to single-band counterparts. In this paper, we propose a framework for analytical performance characterization and resource optimization in multi-band ISAC systems. Specifically, analytical closed-form detection and false alarm probabilities for multi-band OFDM signals are derived, providing a theoretical foundation for subsequent resource allocation. Then, a joint power and time-frequency resource allocation scheme is developed and solved via a proposed ADMM-based algorithm to maximize detection performance. Numerical results validate the accuracy of the closed-form derivations and demonstrate the superior robustness of multi-band signals. Notably, the proposed optimization scheme achieves an 18 dB detection gain over traditional single-band baselines at a 90\% detection probability.

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arXiv2026

Toward Deeper Environmental Understanding: Event-Level Sensing for Intelligent 6G ISAC

The intelligent evolution of mission-critical networks, such as the Internet of vehicles (IoV) and the low-altitude economy (LAE), requires sixth-generation (6G) networks to move beyond discrete physical parameter estimation toward deeper environmental understanding. However, existing integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) studies mainly focus on target-level sensing, which provides fragmented snapshots of the physical world and lacks the behavioral semantic capability to interpret intent. This limitation hinders the intelligent evolution of such networks and prevents 6G from acquiring the essential sensing foundation to evolve into an "intelligent service engine". To bridge this gap, ISAC must advance toward event-level sensing, which models continuous-time states to enable persistent recognition and prediction of target intent and behavioral semantics. This article presents a comprehensive overview of event-level sensing in 6G ISAC networks. We first introduce its fundamental concepts, sensing types, and representative scenarios. We then review key enabling techniques across waveform design, target state estimation and tracking, and event recognition. Furthermore, focusing on IoV and LAE scenarios, we discuss representative applications of ISAC event-level sensing and the intelligent enhancement of downstream operational functions enabled by event-level information. Finally, we highlight future research trends and potential directions to further advance ISAC event-level sensing toward intelligent and proactive 6G networks.

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arXiv2026

Fundamental Performance Limits of Non-Coherent ISAC: A Data-Aided Sensing Perspective

In this paper, we investigate a bistatic multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system over block-fading channels, focusing on the scenario where the sensing and communication receivers (Rxs) are co-located. Under the assumption of unknown channel state information (CSI) at the Rx, two schemes are considered: pilot sensing (PS) and data-aided sensing (DAS). The communication rate-sensing distortion functions for both schemes are characterized. For the DAS scheme, a closed-form asymptotic expression for the sensing distortion is derived by using random matrix theory (RMT). The asymptotic performance analysis explicitly quantifies the significant gains of the DAS scheme, revealing a strict $3$ dB effective SNR improvement in the low-SNR regime and a strictly faster performance scaling rate in the high-SNR limit compared to the PS scheme.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2026

Wideband Near-Field Sensing in ISAC: Unified Algorithm Design and Decoupled Effect Analysis

To advance integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) in sixth-generation (6G) extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO) networks, a low-complexity compressed sensing (CS)-based dictionary design is proposed for wideband near-field (WB-NF) target localization. Currently, the massive signal dimensions in the WB-NF regime impose severe computational burdens and high spatial-frequency coherence on conventional grid-based algorithms. Furthermore, a unified framework exploiting both wideband (WB) and near-field (NF) effects is lacking, and the analytical conditions for simplifying this model into decoupled approximations remain uncharacterized. To address these challenges, the proposed algorithm mathematically decouples the mutual coherence function and introduces a novel angle-distance sampling grid with customized distance adjustments, drastically reducing dictionary dimensions while ensuring low coherence. To isolate the individual WB and NF impacts, two coherence-based metrics are formulated to establish the effective boundaries of the narrowband near-field (NB-NF) and wideband far-field (WB-FF) regions, where respective multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithms are utilized. Simulations demonstrate that the CS-based method achieves robust performance across the entire regime, and the established boundaries provide crucial theoretical guidelines for WB and NF effect decoupling.

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arXiv2026

Integrated Sensing, Communication and Control enabled Agile UAV Swarm

Uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms are pivotal in the applications such as disaster relief, aerial base station (BS) and logistics transportation. These scenarios require the capabilities in accurate sensing, efficient communication and flexible control for real-time and reliable task execution. However, sensing, communication and control are studied independently in traditional research, which limits the overall performance of UAV swarms. To overcome this disadvantage, we propose a deeply coupled scheme of integrated sensing, communication and control (ISCC) for UAV swarms, which is a systemic paradigm that transcends traditional isolated designs of sensing, communication and control by establishing a tightly-coupled closed-loop through the co-optimization of sensing, communication and control. In this article, we firstly analyze the requirements of scenarios and key performance metrics. Subsequently, the enabling technologies are proposed, including communication-and-control-enhanced sensing, sensing-and-control-enhanced communication, and sensing-and-communication-enhanced control. Simulation results validate the performance of the proposed ISCC framework, demonstrating its application potential in the future.

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arXiv2026

Beyond Target-Level: ISAC-Enabled Event-Level Sensing for Behavioral Intention Prediction

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) holds great promise for enabling event-level sensing, such as behavioral intention prediction (BIP) in autonomous driving, particularly under non-line-of-sight (NLoS) or adverse weather conditions where conventional sensors degrade. However, as a key instance of event-level sensing, ISAC-based BIP remains unexplored. To address this gap, we propose an ISAC-enabled BIP framework and validate its feasibility and effectiveness through extensive simulations. Our framework achieves robust performance in safety-critical scenarios, improving the F1-score by 11.4% over sensor-based baselines in adverse weather, thereby demonstrating ISAC's potential for intelligent event-level sensing.

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arXiv2025

Movable Antenna Assisted Flexible Beamforming for Integrated Sensing and Communication in Vehicular Networks

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has been recognized as a key technology in sixth-generation wireless networks, and the additional spatial degrees of freedom obtained by movable antenna (MA) technology can significantly improve the performance of ISAC systems. This paper considers an ISAC-assisted vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) network, where extended kalman filter-based prediction is combined with real-time optimization to jointly optimize transmit antenna positions and beamforming and power allocation vectors in dynamic environments. We propose two algorithms: a preprocessing-schur complement-projected gradient ascent algorithm for scenarios without sensing quality of service (QoS) constraints, which explores the potential range of sensing performance to provide reference and warm-starting for subsequent constrained optimization; and a heuristic reflective projected dynamic particle swarm optimization algorithm for sensing QoS-constrained scenarios, which achieves substantial performance gains under non-convex constraints with a small number of iterations. Simulation results demonstrate that these approaches enhance both the communication sum-rate and the lower of the Cramér-Rao lower bound of motion parameter estimation, validating the effectiveness of MA-assisted beamforming in dynamic V2I ISAC networks.

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arXiv2025

An End-to-End Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for Solving the Traveling Salesman Problem with Drones

The emergence of truck-drone collaborative systems in last-mile logistics has positioned the Traveling Salesman Problem with Drones (TSP-D) as a pivotal extension of classical routing optimization, where synchronized vehicle coordination promises substantial operational efficiency and reduced environmental impact, yet introduces NP-hard combinatorial complexity beyond the reach of conventional optimization paradigms. Deep reinforcement learning offers a theoretically grounded framework to address TSP-D's inherent challenges through self-supervised policy learning and adaptive decision-making. This study proposes a hierarchical Actor-Critic deep reinforcement learning framework for solving the TSP-D problem. The architecture consists of two primary components: a Transformer-inspired encoder and an efficient Minimal Gated Unit decoder. The encoder incorporates a novel, optimized k-nearest neighbors sparse attention mechanism specifically for focusing on relevant spatial relationships, further enhanced by the integration of global node features. The Minimal Gated Unit decoder processes these encoded representations to efficiently generate solution sequences. The entire framework operates within an asynchronous advantage actor-critic paradigm. Experimental results show that, on benchmark TSP-D instances of various scales (N=10 to 100), the proposed model can obtain competitive or even superior solutions in shorter average computation times compared to high-performance heuristic algorithms and existing reinforcement learning methods. Moreover, compared to advanced reinforcement learning algorithm benchmarks, the proposed framework significantly reduces the total training time required while achieving superior final performance, highlighting its notable advantage in training efficiency.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2025

Cooperative Multi-Static ISAC Networks: A Unified Design Framework for Active and Passive Sensing

Multi-static cooperative sensing emerges as a promising technology for advancing integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), enhancing sensing accuracy and range. In this paper, we develop a unified design framework for joint active and passive sensing (JAPS). In particular, we consider a JAPSbased cooperative multi-static ISAC system for coexisting downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) communications. An optimization problem is formulated for maximizing the sum rate of both the DL and UL transmissions via jointly optimizing beamforming, receive filters and power allocation, while guaranteeing the sensing requirements and transmission power constraints. However, the formulated problem is a non-convex optimization problem that is challenging to solve directly due to the tight coupling among optimization variables. To tackle this complicated issue, we employ an efficient algorithm architecture leveraging alternating optimization (AO). Specifically, with the given receive filters and transmission power for UL communication, the transmit beamforming subproblem is addressed by successive convex approximation (SCA)-based and penalty-based algorithms. A fractional programming (FP)-based algorithm is developed to tackle the receive filters and transmission power for UL communication optimization subproblem. Extensive numerical results validate the performance improvement of our proposed JAPS scheme and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.

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arXiv2025

Decentralized Federated Averaging via Random Walk

Federated Learning (FL) is a communication-efficient distributed machine learning method that allows multiple devices to collaboratively train models without sharing raw data. FL can be categorized into centralized and decentralized paradigms. The centralized paradigm relies on a central server to aggregate local models, potentially resulting in single points of failure, communication bottlenecks, and exposure of model parameters. In contrast, the decentralized paradigm, which does not require a central server, provides improved robustness and privacy. The essence of federated learning lies in leveraging multiple local updates for efficient communication. However, this approach may result in slower convergence or even convergence to suboptimal models in the presence of heterogeneous and imbalanced data. To address this challenge, we study decentralized federated averaging via random walk (DFedRW), which replaces multiple local update steps on a single device with random walk updates. Traditional Federated Averaging (FedAvg) and its decentralized versions commonly ignore stragglers, which reduces the amount of training data and introduces sampling bias. Therefore, we allow DFedRW to aggregate partial random walk updates, ensuring that each computation contributes to the model update. To further improve communication efficiency, we also propose a quantized version of DFedRW. We demonstrate that (quantized) DFedRW achieves convergence upper bound of order $\mathcal{O}(\frac{1}{k^{1-q}})$ under convex conditions. Furthermore, we propose a sufficient condition that reveals when quantization balances communication and convergence. Numerical analysis indicates that our proposed algorithms outperform (decentralized) FedAvg in both convergence rate and accuracy, achieving a 38.3\% and 37.5\% increase in test accuracy under high levels of heterogeneities.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2025

Cooperative Sensing Enhanced UAV Path-Following and Obstacle Avoidance with Variable Formation

The high mobility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) enables them to be used in various civilian fields, such as rescue and cargo transport. Path-following is a crucial way to perform these tasks while sensing and collision avoidance are essential for safe flight. In this paper, we investigate how to efficiently and accurately achieve path-following, obstacle sensing and avoidance subtasks, as well as their conflict-free fusion scheduling. Firstly, a high precision deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based UAV formation path-following model is developed, and the reward function with adaptive weights is designed from the perspective of distance and velocity errors. Then, we use integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) signals to detect the obstacle and derive the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for obstacle sensing by information-level fusion, based on which we propose the variable formation enhanced obstacle position estimation (VFEO) algorithm. In addition, an online obstacle avoidance scheme without pretraining is designed to solve the sparse reward. Finally, with the aid of null space based (NSB) behavioral method, we present a hierarchical subtasks fusion strategy. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the subtask algorithms and the hierarchical fusion strategy.

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arXiv2025

Cooperative Sensing-Assisted Predictive Beam Tracking for MIMO-OFDM Networked ISAC Systems

This paper studies a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) networked integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system, in which multiple base stations (BSs) perform beam tracking to communicate with a mobile device. In particular, we focus on the beam tracking over a number of tracking time slots (TTSs) and suppose that these BSs operate at non-overlapping frequency bands to avoid the severe inter-cell interference. Under this setup, we propose a new cooperative sensing-assisted predictive beam tracking design. In each TTS, the BSs use echo signals to cooperatively track the mobile device as a sensing target, and continuously adjust the beam directions to follow the device for enhancing the performance for both communication and sensing. First, we propose a cooperative sensing design to track the device, in which the BSs first employ the two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform (2D-DFT) technique to perform local target estimation, and then use the extended Kalman filter (EKF) method to fuse their individual measurement results for predicting the target parameters. Next, based on the predicted results, we obtain the achievable rate for communication and the predicted conditional Cramér-Rao lower bound (PC-CRLB) for target parameters estimation in the next TTS, as a function of the beamforming vectors. Accordingly, we formulate the predictive beamforming design problem, with the objective of maximizing the achievable communication rate in the following TTS, while satisfying the PC-CRLB requirement for sensing. To address the resulting non-convex problem, we first propose a semi-definite relaxation (SDR)-based algorithm to obtain the optimal solution, and then develop an alternative penalty-based algorithm to get a high-quality low-complexity solution.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2025

Coherent Compensation-Based Sensing for Long-Range Targets in Integrated Sensing and Communication System

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is a promising candidate technology for 6G due to its improvement in spectral efficiency and energy efficiency. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal is a mainstream candidate ISAC waveform. However, there are inter-symbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI) when the round-trip delay exceeds the cyclic prefix (CP) duration for OFDM signals, which limits the maximum sensing range of ISAC system. When detecting a long-range target, the wide beam inevitably covers the close-range target, of which the echo's power is much larger than that of the long-range target. In order to tackle the above problem, a multiple signal classification (MUSIC) and least squares (LS)-based spatial signal separation method is proposed to separate the echo signals reflected from different targets. Moreover, a coherent compensation-based sensing signal processing method at the receiver is proposed to enhance the signal to interference plus noise power ratio (SINR) of the OFDM block for generating the range-Doppler map (RDM) with higher SINR. Simulation results reveal that the proposed method greatly enhances the SINR of RDM by 10 dB for a target at 500 m compared with two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D-FFT) method. Besides, the detection probability is also significantly improved compared to the benchmarking method.

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arXiv2025

Subspace Fitting Approach for Wideband Near-Field Localization

Two subspace fitting approaches are proposed for wideband near-field localization. Unlike in conventional far-field systems, where distance and angle can be estimated separately, spherical wave propagation in near-field systems couples these parameters. We therefore derive a frequency-domain near-field signal model for multi-target wideband systems and develop a subspace fitting-based MUSIC method that jointly estimates distance and angle. To reduce complexity, a Fresnel approximation MUSIC algorithm is further introduced to decouple the distance and angle parameters. Numerical results verify the effectiveness of both proposed approaches.

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