Near-field localization has attracted significant attention in recent years due to the move toward higher frequencies and extremely large aperture arrays, which expand the near-field region and bring many sources into it. This implies that antenna arrays can be used to localize not only in angle but also in range. Although a wide range of localization methods has been developed, each comes with limitations that may hinder practical deployment. This article focuses on a class of techniques that has received relatively little attention in the prior literature despite its strong potential for accurate and efficient location estimation: swarm and evolutionary computation (SEC). These methods are well-suited to the complex optimization landscape of near-field localization and can offer important advantages over conventional approaches such as grid-based subspace methods and deep learning approaches.
Near-field sampling seeks to represent electromagnetic fields between transmitting and receiving regions using a minimal number of measurement points while preserving the dominant spatial modes. This paper develops a geometry-aware sampling framework based on spatial degrees of f…
Integrated photonic neural networks require optical operators that are simultaneously compact, matrix-general and compatible with task-level reconfigurability. Here we introduce a meta processing unit (MPU), an inverse-designed near-field photonic device that implements local com…
Extremely large-scale antenna array (ELAA) has emerged as a common feature of many key candidate technologies for 6G, where the near-field characteristics become dominant. The quasi-distributed array can further extend the near-field range and utilize the near-field benefits to i…
Extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO) is crucial for next-generation communication systems. In practice, the deployment of non-square uniform planar arrays (UPAs) fundamentally alters wavefront characteristics and induces anisotropic beamfocusing capabili…
High-frequency communications strongly depend on the line-of-sight (LoS) path, and obstacle blockage can severely degrade the received signal power and achievable rate. Near-field Airy beams with curved trajectories can circumvent obstacles, offering a promising way to alleviate…
This letter exploits near-field (NF) spherical wavefronts to derive geometry-dependent physical signatures for backscatter device (BD) authentication in extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO) backscatter communication systems. We propose a binary element-w…