Intelligent wireless systems with integrated communications and sensing

在给我们的生活带来了无数次升级之后，无线通信系统继续带领我们走向物理和虚拟合二为一的未来。这项研究计划重点关注未来Beyond-5G无线系统的三个核心方面：通信、传感及其统一。在这些方面的概念和技术突破对于定义未来无线系统的极高性能、背景感知视觉和高精度传感至关重要。该计划的第一部分是关于具有传感智能的通信设计。GHz/THz频段的使用使得小尺寸的高增益天线成为可能，从而产生了新的通信结构。一个典型的未来场景是超密集网络，其无处不在的接入点配备了可重新配置的智能表面(RISS)。我们将研究他们的收发信机设计和用户接入。与当前的方法不同，我们的重点是效率、低复杂性和真正的用户体验，而不是容量最优化。我们进一步瞄准独立于可用上下文信息的解决方案。下一部分是关于无线系统的感知潜力。Beyond-5G系统具有高频、大带宽、RISS和用户密集化的特点，可以实现高精度的普适传感。我们将研究通信受限的无线系统中的感知。两个短期的焦点是盲分布式频谱感知和通信上下文的分布式估计。我们将探索能够利用移动设备激增和低流量数据交换的传感设计，以限制无线系统的负担。将建立一个高效的数据传感流程，包括采样、数据分析、数据交换和决策。第三部分是传播与感知的统一。以往在通信领域和传感领域的研究都有不同的目标和范围，制约了它们之间的互联。相比之下，我们将把通信和传感设计的经验与新的结构结合起来，通过短期目标，如RIS辅助的超高密度系统的交错训练和收发机设计，得出相互作用和权衡的规律。我们还将探索从Beyond-5G的宏伟愿景出发的另一种自上而下的方法，分解和物化上下文提取、服务质量诊断、联合设计等基本模块，以实现统一。现在是研究人员为Beyond-5G系统奠定基础的时候了。我们需要重新思考如何收集、处理、传输和使用数据，以适应物理和虚拟无缝集成的未来。这项研究的目的是从通信、感知及其统一的核心方面对未来智能无线系统的概念、设计和分析产生影响。该计划还将为各级HQP提供全面的培训。

Having led to numerous upgrades in our lives, wireless communication systems continue to carry us towards a future where the physical and the virtual become one. This research program focuses on the three core aspects of future beyond-5G wireless systems: communications, sensing, and their unification. Conceptual and technological breakthroughs in these aspects are crucial for the extreme performance, context-aware vision and high precision sensing that define future wireless systems. The first part of the program is on communication designs with sensing intelligence. The use of GHz/THz frequency band enables high gain antennas with small dimensions, leading to new structures for communications. One typical future scenario is ultra-dense networks with ubiquitous access points equipped with reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs). We will study their transceiver designs and user access. In contrast to current approaches, our focus is on efficiency, low complexity, and true user experience instead of capacity-optimality. We further target at solutions that are autonomous to available context information. The next part is on sensing potential of wireless systems. Beyond-5G systems are featured by high frequency, large bandwidth, RISs and user densification, enabling pervasive sensing with high precision. We will study sensing in wireless systems with communication constraints. Two short-term focuses are blind distributed spectrum sensing and distributed estimation of communications context. We will explore sensing designs that can exploit the proliferation of mobile devices and have low traffic data exchange to limit the burden to the wireless systems. An efficient  sensing process will be established including sampling, data analytics, data exchange and decision-making. The third part is the unification of communications and sensing. Past researches in the communications field and the sensing field have distinct objectives and scopes, restraining their interconnection. In contrast, we will piece together experiences from communications and sensing designs with new structures to derive laws of interaction and tradeoff, through short-term objectives such as the interleaved training and transceiver designs for RIS-assisted ultra-dense systems. We will also explore the alternate "top-down" approach of starting from the grand vision of beyond-5G to break down and materialize essential modules, such as context extraction, QoS diagnosis, and joint design, for the unification. It is high time researchers laid the foundation for beyond-5G systems. We need to rethink how data are collected, processed, transmitted and consumed for a future where the physical and the virtual are seamlessly integrated. The proposed research aims at results in the concept, design, and analysis of future intelligent wireless systems from the core aspects of communications, sensing and their unification. The program will also provide thorough training for HQP at all levels.