Scalable Association of Users in CF-mMIMO: A Synergy of Communication, Sensing, and ISAC
IEEE Transactions on Communications, cilt.74, ss.8687-8700, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 74
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1109/tcomm.2026.3692020
- Dergi Adı: IEEE Transactions on Communications
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Aerospace Database, Compendex, INSPEC, zbMATH, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.8687-8700
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF-mMIMO), integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), sixth generation (6G) networks, user association
- İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF-mMIMO) is a key enabler for sixth-generation (6G) wireless systems, offering enhanced spectral efficiency and ubiquitous coverage. In such systems, the association of user equipments (UEs) to access points (APs) is a critical challenge, as it directly impacts scalability, interference suppression, and overall system performance. Conventional user association (UA) methods optimize communication throughput but overlook emerging 6G requirements from sensing and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) applications. To address this, we propose a scalable user association (SUA) scheme for CF-mMIMO networks that explicitly considers heterogeneous UE service needs, including communication, sensing, and ISAC. The proposed SUA scheme integrates AP masking, link prioritization, and optimization-driven AP selection to balance system load and enhance service quality. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly reduces interference and computational runtime, while improving symbol error rate for communication UEs and probability of detection for sensing UEs.