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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.12910 |
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| _version_ | 1866913122080522240 |
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| author | Wang, Zhaolin Ouyang, Chongjun Ranasinghe, Kuranage Roche Rayan Yuan, Shuai S. A. de Abreu, Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas Björnson, Emil Liu, Yuanwei |
| author_facet | Wang, Zhaolin Ouyang, Chongjun Ranasinghe, Kuranage Roche Rayan Yuan, Shuai S. A. de Abreu, Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas Björnson, Emil Liu, Yuanwei |
| contents | Emerging wireless systems are evolving toward larger, denser, higher-frequency, and more reconfigurable apertures, which motivates the study of continuous-aperture arrays (CAPAs). Unlike conventional spatially discrete arrays (SPDAs), CAPAs are more naturally modeled as spatially continuous electromagnetic apertures and therefore call for a fundamental shift in both signal processing and information-theoretic analysis. In particular, the underlying channels, signals, and beamformers are no longer finite-dimensional vectors and matrices, but continuous fields and operators governed by Maxwell's equations. This paper provides a tutorial overview of CAPA systems from the perspective of electromagnetic signal and information theory (ESIT), with an emphasis on the transition from discrete array models to physics-consistent continuous-aperture formulations. We review the electromagnetic foundations of CAPAs, practical hardware implementations, line-of-sight and multipath channel modeling, continuous-space beamforming and channel estimation, and the fundamental degrees of freedom and capacity limits of CAPA systems. We also highlight how tools such as wavenumber-domain methods, functional analysis, and compressive sensing can transform challenging infinite-dimensional problems into tractable finite-dimensional ones while preserving the essential physical structure of the channel. Overall, this tutorial aims to clarify the key principles, analytical tools, and open challenges that shape CAPA-enabled wireless communications. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_12910 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electromagnetic Signal and Information Theory: A Continuous-Aperture Array Perspective Wang, Zhaolin Ouyang, Chongjun Ranasinghe, Kuranage Roche Rayan Yuan, Shuai S. A. de Abreu, Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas Björnson, Emil Liu, Yuanwei Information Theory Emerging wireless systems are evolving toward larger, denser, higher-frequency, and more reconfigurable apertures, which motivates the study of continuous-aperture arrays (CAPAs). Unlike conventional spatially discrete arrays (SPDAs), CAPAs are more naturally modeled as spatially continuous electromagnetic apertures and therefore call for a fundamental shift in both signal processing and information-theoretic analysis. In particular, the underlying channels, signals, and beamformers are no longer finite-dimensional vectors and matrices, but continuous fields and operators governed by Maxwell's equations. This paper provides a tutorial overview of CAPA systems from the perspective of electromagnetic signal and information theory (ESIT), with an emphasis on the transition from discrete array models to physics-consistent continuous-aperture formulations. We review the electromagnetic foundations of CAPAs, practical hardware implementations, line-of-sight and multipath channel modeling, continuous-space beamforming and channel estimation, and the fundamental degrees of freedom and capacity limits of CAPA systems. We also highlight how tools such as wavenumber-domain methods, functional analysis, and compressive sensing can transform challenging infinite-dimensional problems into tractable finite-dimensional ones while preserving the essential physical structure of the channel. Overall, this tutorial aims to clarify the key principles, analytical tools, and open challenges that shape CAPA-enabled wireless communications. |
| title | Electromagnetic Signal and Information Theory: A Continuous-Aperture Array Perspective |
| topic | Information Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.12910 |