Joint RIS-UE Association and Beamforming Design in RIS-Assisted Cell-Free MIMO Network

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Main Authors: Ke, Hongqin, Xu, Jindan, Xu, Wei, Yuen, Chau, Lu, Zhaohua
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ke, Hongqin
Xu, Jindan
Xu, Wei
Yuen, Chau
Lu, Zhaohua
author_facet Ke, Hongqin
Xu, Jindan
Xu, Wei
Yuen, Chau
Lu, Zhaohua
contents Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted cell-free (CF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) networks can significantly enhance system performance. However, the extensive deployment of RIS elements imposes considerable channel acquisition overhead, with the high density of nodes and antennas in RIS-assisted CF networks amplifying this challenge. To tackle this issue, in this paper, we explore integrating RIS-user equipment (UE) association into downlink RIS-assisted CF transmitter design, which greatly reduces the channel acquisition costs. The key point is that once UEs are associated with specific RISs, there is no need to frequently acquire channels from non-associated RISs. Then, we formulate the problem of joint RIS-UE association and beamforming at APs and RISs to maximize the weighted sum rate (WSR). In particular, we propose a two-stage framework to solve it. In the first stage, we apply a many-to-many matching algorithm to establish the RIS-UE association. In the second stage, we introduce a sequential optimization-based method that decomposes the joint optimization of RIS phase shifts and AP beamforming into two distinct subproblems. To optimize the RIS phase shifts, we employ the majorization-minimization (MM) algorithm to obtain a semi-closed-form solution. For AP beamforming, we develop a joint block diagonalization algorithm, which yields a closed-form solution. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and show that, while RIS-UE association significantly reduces overhead, it incurs a minor performance loss that remains within an acceptable range. Additionally, we investigate the impact of RIS deployment and conclude that RISs exhibit enhanced performance when positioned between APs and UEs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_21690
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Joint RIS-UE Association and Beamforming Design in RIS-Assisted Cell-Free MIMO Network
Ke, Hongqin
Xu, Jindan
Xu, Wei
Yuen, Chau
Lu, Zhaohua
Signal Processing
Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted cell-free (CF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) networks can significantly enhance system performance. However, the extensive deployment of RIS elements imposes considerable channel acquisition overhead, with the high density of nodes and antennas in RIS-assisted CF networks amplifying this challenge. To tackle this issue, in this paper, we explore integrating RIS-user equipment (UE) association into downlink RIS-assisted CF transmitter design, which greatly reduces the channel acquisition costs. The key point is that once UEs are associated with specific RISs, there is no need to frequently acquire channels from non-associated RISs. Then, we formulate the problem of joint RIS-UE association and beamforming at APs and RISs to maximize the weighted sum rate (WSR). In particular, we propose a two-stage framework to solve it. In the first stage, we apply a many-to-many matching algorithm to establish the RIS-UE association. In the second stage, we introduce a sequential optimization-based method that decomposes the joint optimization of RIS phase shifts and AP beamforming into two distinct subproblems. To optimize the RIS phase shifts, we employ the majorization-minimization (MM) algorithm to obtain a semi-closed-form solution. For AP beamforming, we develop a joint block diagonalization algorithm, which yields a closed-form solution. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and show that, while RIS-UE association significantly reduces overhead, it incurs a minor performance loss that remains within an acceptable range. Additionally, we investigate the impact of RIS deployment and conclude that RISs exhibit enhanced performance when positioned between APs and UEs.
title Joint RIS-UE Association and Beamforming Design in RIS-Assisted Cell-Free MIMO Network
topic Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.21690