Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC)-aided Multiuser MISO: Fundamental Limits and Beamforming Design

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Wu, Zheyu, Nerini, Matteo, Clerckx, Bruno
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Wu, Zheyu
Nerini, Matteo
Clerckx, Bruno
author_facet Wu, Zheyu
Nerini, Matteo
Clerckx, Bruno
contents As wireless communication systems evolve toward the 6G era, ultra-massive/gigantic MIMO is envisioned as a key enabling technology. Recently, microwave linear analog computer (MiLAC) has emerged as a promising approach to realize beamforming entirely in the analog domain, thereby alleviating the scalability challenges associated with gigantic MIMO. In this paper, we investigate the fundamental beamforming flexibility and design of lossless and reciprocal MiLAC-aided beamforming for MU-MISO systems. We first provide a rigorous characterization of the set of beamforming matrices achievable by MiLAC. Based on this characterization, we prove that MiLAC-aided beamforming does not generally achieve the full flexibility of digital beamforming, while offering greater flexibility than conventional phase-shifter-based analog beamforming. Furthermore, we propose a hybrid digital-MiLAC architecture and show that it achieves digital beamforming flexibility when the number of radio frequency (RF) chains equals the number of data streams, halving that required by conventional hybrid beamforming. We then formulate the MiLAC-aided sum-rate maximization problem for MU-MISO systems. To solve the problem efficiently, we reformulate the MiLAC-related constraints as a convex linear matrix inequality and establish a low-dimensional subspace property that significantly reduces the problem dimension. Leveraging these results, we propose WMMSE-based algorithms for solving the resulting problem. Simulation results demonstrate that MiLAC-aided beamforming achieves performance close to that of digital beamforming in gigantic MIMO systems. Compared with hybrid beamforming, it achieves comparable or superior performance with lower hardware and computational complexity by avoiding symbol-level digital processing and enabling low-resolution digital-to-analog converters (DACs).
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_10060
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC)-aided Multiuser MISO: Fundamental Limits and Beamforming Design
Wu, Zheyu
Nerini, Matteo
Clerckx, Bruno
Signal Processing
As wireless communication systems evolve toward the 6G era, ultra-massive/gigantic MIMO is envisioned as a key enabling technology. Recently, microwave linear analog computer (MiLAC) has emerged as a promising approach to realize beamforming entirely in the analog domain, thereby alleviating the scalability challenges associated with gigantic MIMO. In this paper, we investigate the fundamental beamforming flexibility and design of lossless and reciprocal MiLAC-aided beamforming for MU-MISO systems. We first provide a rigorous characterization of the set of beamforming matrices achievable by MiLAC. Based on this characterization, we prove that MiLAC-aided beamforming does not generally achieve the full flexibility of digital beamforming, while offering greater flexibility than conventional phase-shifter-based analog beamforming. Furthermore, we propose a hybrid digital-MiLAC architecture and show that it achieves digital beamforming flexibility when the number of radio frequency (RF) chains equals the number of data streams, halving that required by conventional hybrid beamforming. We then formulate the MiLAC-aided sum-rate maximization problem for MU-MISO systems. To solve the problem efficiently, we reformulate the MiLAC-related constraints as a convex linear matrix inequality and establish a low-dimensional subspace property that significantly reduces the problem dimension. Leveraging these results, we propose WMMSE-based algorithms for solving the resulting problem. Simulation results demonstrate that MiLAC-aided beamforming achieves performance close to that of digital beamforming in gigantic MIMO systems. Compared with hybrid beamforming, it achieves comparable or superior performance with lower hardware and computational complexity by avoiding symbol-level digital processing and enabling low-resolution digital-to-analog converters (DACs).
title Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC)-aided Multiuser MISO: Fundamental Limits and Beamforming Design
topic Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10060