Advancing Ultra-Reliable 6G: Transformer and Semantic Localization Empowered Robust Beamforming in Millimeter-Wave Communications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust beamforming method for 6G mmWave communications that combines semantic localization with a hybrid transformer-CNN architecture, improving accuracy and stability under environmental variations.

Contribution

It proposes a novel hybrid transformer-CNN model and a semantic localization approach using YOLOv8 and K-means, addressing environmental sensitivity issues in beamforming.

Findings

Outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in beam prediction accuracy

Achieves higher received power and ACE scores

Demonstrates robustness across six testing scenarios

Abstract

Advancements in 6G wireless technology have elevated the importance of beamforming, especially for attaining ultra-high data rates via millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency deployment. Although promising, mmWave bands require substantial beam training to achieve precise beamforming. While initial deep learning models that use RGB camera images demonstrated promise in reducing beam training overhead, their performance suffers due to sensitivity to lighting and environmental variations. Due to this sensitivity, Quality of Service (QoS) fluctuates, eventually affecting the stability and dependability of networks in dynamic environments. This emphasizes a critical need for robust solutions. This paper proposes a robust beamforming technique to ensure consistent QoS under varying environmental conditions. An optimization problem has been formulated to maximize users' data rates. To solve the formulated NP-hard optimization problem, we decompose it into two subproblems: the semantic localization problem and the optimal beam selection problem. To solve the semantic localization problem, we propose a novel method that leverages the K-means clustering and YOLOv8 model. To solve the beam selection problem, we propose a novel lightweight hybrid architecture that combines a lightweight transformer with a CNN architecture through a weighted entropy mechanism. This hybrid architecture utilizes multimodal data sources to dynamically predict the optimal beams. A novel metric, Accuracy-Complexity Efficiency (ACE), has been proposed to quantify this. Six testing scenarios have been developed to evaluate the robustness of the proposed model. Finally, the simulation result demonstrates that the proposed model outperforms several state-of-the-art baselines regarding beam prediction accuracy, received power, and ACE in the developed test scenarios.