In the upcoming 6G era, multiple access (MA) will play an essential role in achieving high throughput performances required in a wide range of wireless applications. Since MA and interference management are closely related issues, the conventional MA techniques are limited in that they cannot provide near-optimal performance in universal interference regimes. Recently, rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) has been gaining much attention. RSMA splits an individual message into two parts: a common part, decodable by every user, and a private part, decodable only by the intended user. Each user first decodes the common message and then decodes its private message by applying successive interference cancellation (SIC). By doing so, RSMA not only embraces the existing MA techniques as special cases but also provides significant performance gains by efficiently mitigating inter-user interference in a broad range of interference regimes. In this article, we first present the theoretical foundation of RSMA. Subsequently, we put forth four key benefits of RSMA: spectral efficiency, robustness, scalability, and flexibility. Upon this, we describe how RSMA can enable ten promising scenarios and applications along with future research directions to pave the way for 6G.

Rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) is a general multiple access scheme for downlink multi-antenna systems embracing both classical spatial division multiple access and more recent non-orthogonal multiple access. Finding a linear precoding strategy that maximizes the sum spectral efficiency of RSMA is a challenging yet significant problem. In this paper, we put forth a novel precoder design framework that jointly finds the linear precoders for the common and private messages for RSMA. Our approach is first to approximate the non-smooth minimum function part in the sum spectral efficiency of RSMA using a LogSumExp technique. Then, we reformulate the sum spectral efficiency maximization problem as a form of the log-sum of Rayleigh quotients to convert it into a tractable form. By interpreting the first-order optimality condition of the reformulated problem as an eigenvector-dependent nonlinear eigenvalue problem, we reveal that the leading eigenvector of the derived optimality condition is a local optimal solution. To find the leading eigenvector, we propose an algorithm inspired by a power iteration. Simulation results show that the proposed RSMA transmission strategy provides significant improvement in the sum spectral efficiency compared to the state-of-the-art RSMA transmission methods.

Over the past few decades, wireless communication has witnessed remarkable growth, experiencing several transformative changes. This article offers a comprehensive overview of wireless communication technologies, from the foundations to the recent wireless advances and future trends. Specifically, we take a neutral look at the state-of-the-art technologies for the fifth generation (5G) and ongoing evolutions towards 6G, while also reviewing the recommendations of the international mobile communication vision for 2030 (IMT-2030). We first highlight specific features of IMT 2030, including three IMT-2020 extensions and three new innovations—ubiquitous connectivity and integrating the new capabilities of sensing & artificial intelligence with communication functionality. Based on key findings, we delve into three major challenges in implementing 6G, along with global standardization efforts. Besides, a proof of concept is provided by demonstrating terahertz (THz) signal transmission using orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing, which is one of the potential candidates for 6G and beyond. To inspire further potential research, we conclude by identifying research opportunities and future visions on IMT-2030 recommendations.

A downlink single-input single-output non-orthogonal multiple access setting is considered, in which a base station (BS) is communicating with two legitimate users in two possible scenarios of unsecure environments: existence of an external eavesdropper and communicating through an untrusted relay. For the first scenario, a number of trusted cooperative half-duplex relays is employed to assist with the BS's transmission and secure its signals from the external eavesdropper. Various relaying schemes are proposed and analyzed for that matter: cooperative jamming, decode-and-forward, and amplify-and-forward. For each scheme, secure beamforming signals are devised at the relays to maximize the achievable secrecy rate regions. For the second scenario, with the untrusted relay, achievable secrecy rate regions are derived for two different relaying schemes, compress-and-forward and amplify-and-forward, under two different modes of operation. In the first mode, coined passive user mode, the users receive signals from both the BS and the untrusted relay and combine them to decode their messages. In the second mode, termed the active user mode, the users transmit a cooperative jamming signal simultaneously with the BS's transmission to further confuse the relay. Focusing on half-duplex nodes, the users cannot receive the BS's signal while jamming the relay, i.e., while being active, and rely only on the signals forwarded to them by the relay. It is shown that the best relaying scheme highly depends on the system parameters, in particular the distances between the nodes, and also on the part of the secrecy rate region at which the system is to operate.

In this letter, we consider wireless powered communication networks (WPCNs) that consist of a hybrid access-point (H-AP) with a single antenna, an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), and multiple users, each with a single antenna. In the downlink, users harvest energy from both an energy signal transmitted from the H-AP, and the reflected signal at the IRS. In the uplink, users transmit information using harvested energy, following non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). In particular, the signals from users and the reflected signals at the IRS are superposed and received at the H-AP. The sum-throughput for the considered network is maximized by jointly optimizing the transmit time, power, and phase shifts induced by the IRS. Numerical results show the sum-throughput enhancement by the IRS, and the impact of the IRS on the user fairness of the system.