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Robust design for IRS-assisted multiuser systems under practical imperfections: a rate-splitting approach

Author(s): Xingyu PENG, Qin TAO, Xiaoming CHEN
Affiliation(s): College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; more
Corresponding email(s): peng_xingyu@zju.edu.cn, taoqin@hznu.edu.cn, chen_xiaoming@zju.edu.cn
Key Words: Intelligent reflecting surface; Rate-splitting multiple access; Discrete phase shifts; Hardware impairments; Imperfect channel state information; Robust beamforming

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Xingyu PENG, Qin TAO, Xiaoming CHEN. Robust design for IRS-assisted multiuser systems under practical imperfections: a rate-splitting approach[J]. Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering,in press.https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.2500353

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author="Xingyu PENG, Qin TAO, Xiaoming CHEN",
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%T Robust design for IRS-assisted multiuser systems under practical imperfections: a rate-splitting approach
%A Xingyu PENG
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%A Xiaoming CHEN
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A1 - Xiaoming CHEN
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PB - Zhejiang University Press & Springer
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doi="https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.2500353"

Abstract
Chinese Summary
Academic Network
Reviewer Comment

Abstract: In practical intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-assisted multiuser communication systems, inevitable imperfections such as hardware impairments, imperfect channel state information (CSI), and the limited resolution of the IRS phase shifts would introduce interference and thus cause significant performance degradation. As an interference management strategy, rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) employs the rate-splitting (RS) principle to partition user information into common and private parts, thereby offering enhanced robustness. Accounting for practical imperfections, this study investigates robust beamforming design in IRS-assisted multiuser systems under the RSMA architecture. First, we introduce a system model that captures these non-ideal factors and evaluate their impacts on communication performance. To enhance the performance of the considered system, a weighted sum rate maximization problem is formulated, for which a sample average approximation (SAA)-based robust algorithm is proposed to jointly optimize the IRS phase shifts and the beamforming matrix at the base station (BS). Simulation results demonstrate that the IRS-assisted RSMA system exhibits superior robustness compared to the IRS-assisted space division multiple access (SDMA) system in the presence of inevitable imperfections. Furthermore, the proposed SAA-based robust algorithm outperforms existing benchmark algorithms, highlighting its effectiveness and robustness.

实际缺陷下智能反射面辅助多用户系统的鲁棒设计：一种速率分割方法

彭星宇¹，陶琴²，陈晓明¹
¹浙江大学信息科学与电子工程学院，中国杭州市，310027
²杭州师范大学信息科学与技术学院，中国杭州市，311121
摘要：在实际智能反射面（IRS）辅助多用户通信系统中，硬件损伤、不完美信道状态信息以及IRS相移有限分辨率等不可避免的缺陷会引入干扰，从而导致系统性能显著下降。作为一种干扰管理策略，速率分割多址接入（RSMA）运用速率分割原理将用户信息拆分为公共部分与私有部分，从而提供更强鲁棒性。针对实际系统缺陷，本文探究RSMA架构下IRS辅助多用户系统的鲁棒波束成形设计。首先，建立一个包含上述非理想因素的系统模型，并评估其对通信性能的影响。为提升系统性能，构建加权和速率最大化问题，并提出基于样本平均近似（SAA）的鲁棒算法来联合优化IRS相移与基站波束成形矩阵。仿真结果表明，在存在固有缺陷的场景下，IRS辅助的RSMA系统相较于IRS辅助的空分多址（SDMA）系统展现出更优越的鲁棒性。此外，所提出的基于SAA的鲁棒算法在性能上优于现有基准算法，凸显了其有效性与鲁棒性。

关键词组：智能反射面；速率分割多址接入；离散相移；硬件缺陷；不完美信道状态信息；鲁棒波束成形

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实际缺陷下智能反射面辅助多用户系统的鲁棒设计：一种速率分割方法

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