Power Minimization in Pinching-Antenna Systems under Probabilistic LoS Blockage

TL;DR

This paper proposes optimized antenna positioning and beamforming strategies for pinching-antenna systems under probabilistic LoS blockage, achieving significant power savings in multi-user wireless networks.

Contribution

It introduces a convex optimization solution for single PAs, closed-form beamforming structures for multiple PAs, and analyzes link correlation effects, advancing power-efficient antenna design.

Findings

Global optimum for single PA problem established

Closed-form beamforming structures derived for multiple PAs

Numerical results show substantial power savings over fixed-antenna systems

Abstract

With great flexibility to adjust antenna positions, pinching antennas (PAs) are promising for alleviating large-scale attenuation in wireless networks. In this work, we investigate the antenna positioning and beamforming (AP-BF) design in a multi-PA multi-user system under probabilistic light-of-sight (LoS) blockage and formulate a power minimization problem subject to per-user signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constraints. For a single PA, we prove the convexity of the simplified problem and obtain its global optimum. For multiple PAs, we derive closed-form BF structures and develop an efficient first-order algorithm to achieve high-quality local solutions. Moreover, the impact of link correlation on the transmit power is analyzed theoretically. Extensive numerical results validate the efficacy of our proposed designs and the substantial performance advantage of PA systems compared with conventional fixed-antenna systems in a term of power saving.