Modulating Intelligent Surfaces for Multi-User MIMO Systems: Beamforming and Modulation Design

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel RIS-based joint data modulation and beamforming framework for multi-user MIMO systems, enhancing spectral efficiency and system throughput through passive and active optimization techniques.

Contribution

It introduces the modulating intelligent surface (MIS) concept for simultaneous passive data embedding and beamforming, with a new optimization algorithm for phase-shift design.

Findings

Significant throughput improvements over existing RIS schemes.

Supports a higher number of users with enhanced spectral efficiency.

Effective optimization under practical phase-shift constraints.

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel approach of utilizing the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for joint data modulation and signal beamforming in a multi-user downlink cellular network by leveraging the idea of backscatter communication. We present a general framework in which the RIS, referred to as modulating intelligent surface (MIS) in this paper, is used to: i) beamform the signals for a set of users whose data modulation is already performed by the base station (BS), and at the same time, ii) embed the data of a different set of users by passively modulating the deliberately sent carrier signals from the BS to the RIS. To maximize each user's spectral efficiency, a joint non-convex optimization problem is formulated under the sum minimum mean-square error (MMSE) criterion. Alternating optimization is used to divide the original joint problem into two tasks of: i) separately optimizing the MIS phase-shifts for passive beamforming along with data embedding for the BS- and MIS-served users, respectively, and ii) jointly optimizing the active precoder and the receive scaling factor for the BS- and MIS-served users, respectively. While the solution to the latter joint problem is found in closed-form using traditional optimization techniques, the optimal phase-shifts at the MIS are obtained by deriving the appropriate optimization-oriented vector approximate message passing (OOVAMP) algorithm. Moreover, the original joint problem is solved under both ideal and practical constraints on the MIS phase shifts, namely, the unimodular constraint and assuming each MIS element to be terminated by a variable reactive load. The proposed MIS-assisted scheme is compared against state-of-the-art RIS-assisted wireless communication schemes and simulation results reveal that it brings substantial improvements in terms of system throughput while supporting a much higher number of users.