A Refined Alternating Optimization for Sum Rate Maximization in SIM-Aided Multiuser MISO Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bahingayi, Eduard E., Lin, Shuying, Uysal, Murat, Di Renzo, Marco, Tran, Le-Nam
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Bahingayi, Eduard E.
Lin, Shuying
Uysal, Murat
Di Renzo, Marco
Tran, Le-Nam
author_facet Bahingayi, Eduard E.
Lin, Shuying
Uysal, Murat
Di Renzo, Marco
Tran, Le-Nam
contents Stacked intelligent metasurfaces (SIMs) have emerged as a disruptive technology for future wireless networks. To investigate their capabilities, we study the sum rate maximization problem in an SIM-based multiuser (MU) multiple-input single-output (MISO) downlink system. A vast majority of pioneer studies, if not all, address this fundamental problem using the prevailing alternating optimization (AO) framework, where the digital beamforming (DB) and SIM phase shifts are optimized alternately. However, many of these approaches suffer from suboptimal performance, quickly leading to performance saturation, when the number of SIM layers increases assuming the \emph{fixed SIM thickness}. In this letter, we demonstrate that significant performance gains can still be achieved, and such saturation does not occur with the proposed method in the considered setting. To this end, we provide practical design guidelines to improve AO-based optimization of digital precoders and SIM phase shifts. Specifically, we show that (i) optimizing the SIM phase shifts first yields significant performance improvements, compared to optimizing the DB first; and (ii) when applying projected gradient (PG) methods, which are gradually becoming more popular to optimize the phase shifts thanks to their scalability, we find that using an iterative PG method achieves better performance than the single PG step, which is commonly used in existing solutions. Based on these customizations, the proposed method achieves a higher achievable sum rate (ASR) of up to $\ensuremath{115.53\%}$, compared to benchmark schemes for the scenarios under consideration.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_15257
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Refined Alternating Optimization for Sum Rate Maximization in SIM-Aided Multiuser MISO Systems
Bahingayi, Eduard E.
Lin, Shuying
Uysal, Murat
Di Renzo, Marco
Tran, Le-Nam
Signal Processing
Stacked intelligent metasurfaces (SIMs) have emerged as a disruptive technology for future wireless networks. To investigate their capabilities, we study the sum rate maximization problem in an SIM-based multiuser (MU) multiple-input single-output (MISO) downlink system. A vast majority of pioneer studies, if not all, address this fundamental problem using the prevailing alternating optimization (AO) framework, where the digital beamforming (DB) and SIM phase shifts are optimized alternately. However, many of these approaches suffer from suboptimal performance, quickly leading to performance saturation, when the number of SIM layers increases assuming the \emph{fixed SIM thickness}. In this letter, we demonstrate that significant performance gains can still be achieved, and such saturation does not occur with the proposed method in the considered setting. To this end, we provide practical design guidelines to improve AO-based optimization of digital precoders and SIM phase shifts. Specifically, we show that (i) optimizing the SIM phase shifts first yields significant performance improvements, compared to optimizing the DB first; and (ii) when applying projected gradient (PG) methods, which are gradually becoming more popular to optimize the phase shifts thanks to their scalability, we find that using an iterative PG method achieves better performance than the single PG step, which is commonly used in existing solutions. Based on these customizations, the proposed method achieves a higher achievable sum rate (ASR) of up to $\ensuremath{115.53\%}$, compared to benchmark schemes for the scenarios under consideration.
title A Refined Alternating Optimization for Sum Rate Maximization in SIM-Aided Multiuser MISO Systems
topic Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.15257