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Reconfigurable arrays mold the propagation en- vironment to benefit wireless systems. We use single-port polarization-reconfigurable antennas in a wideband multiple- input multiple-output (MIMO) system and demonstrate the efficacy of reconfiguration techniques based on analytical channel models. We apply a double-directional channel model to show that polarization reconfiguration acts as an additional precoding step on an unpolarized channel. We use Jensen’s inequality to upper bound the spectral efficiency and leverage the relaxed objective to derive closed-form expressions for the optimal polarization angles at each antenna. We also derive upper bounds on the performance of a polarization reconfigurable system and develop an efficient procedure for polarization reconfiguration that aims to maximize these upper bounds. Numerical results show that the proposed simplified methods achieve near-optimal in wideband MIMO settings. 

Impedance-matching networks affect power transfer from the radio frequency (RF) chains to the antennas. Their design impacts the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the achievable rate. In this paper, we maximize the information-theoretic achievable rate of a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) system with wideband matching constraints. Using a multiport circuit theory approach with frequency-selective scattering parameters, we propose a general framework for optimizing the MISO achievable rate that incorporates Bode-Fano wideband matching theory. We express the solution to the achievable rate optimization problem in terms of the optimized transmission coefficient and the Lagrangian parameters corresponding to the Bode-Fano inequality constraints. We apply this framework to a single electric Chu’s antenna and an array of dipole antennas. We compare the optimized achievable rate obtained numerically with other benchmarks like the ideal achievable rate computed by disregarding matching constraints and the achievable rate obtained by using sub-optimal matching strategies like conjugate matching and frequency-flat transmission. We also propose a practical methodology to approximate the achievable rate bound by using the optimal transmission coefficient to derive a physically realizable matching network through the ADS software. 

Multi-band operation in wireless networks can improve data rates by leveraging the benefits of propagation in different frequency ranges. Distinctive beam management procedures in different bands complicate band assignment because they require considering not only the channel quality but also the associated beam management overhead. Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising approach for multi-band operation as it enables the system to learn and adjust its behavior through environmental feedback. In this paper, we formulate a sequential decision problem to jointly perform band assignment and beam management. We propose a method based on hierarchical RL (HRL) to handle the complexity of the problem by separating the policies for band selection and beam management. We evaluate the proposed HRL-based algorithm on a realistic channel generated based on ray-tracing simulators. Our results show that the proposed approach outperforms traditional RL approaches in terms of reduced beam training overhead and increased data rates under a realistic vehicular channel. 

Dynamic metasurface antennas (DMA) have been proposed for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and millimeter wave applications due to their ability to cre- ate dense, energy-efficient arrays. In this paper, we integrate DMAs into a realistic wireless environment to compare their performance in spectral and energy efficiency with a conventional phased array. We implement a practical transmitter architecture for the DMA and phased array to account for the power consumption and hardware constraints of the radio frequency (RF) front end. Simulation results for a MISO scenario show that while the DMA performs worse in spectral efficiency than an active phased array, the power consumption savings from the reconfigurable component enable better performance in energy efficiency. Therefore, DMAs can provide an energy-efficient alternative to typical phased arrays.