Based on current research, there is a lack of comprehensive review articles that systematically address the security issues of the internet of vehicles (IoV) using blockchain technology. In this study, we thoroughly analyze the threats and challenges within IoV systems and provide a systematic review of blockchain-based IoV security solutions. This paper summarizes blockchain solutions for addressing key challenges in IoV, including network security, communication efficiency, resource optimization, data management, and transaction operational efficiency. Our findings indicate that blockchain technology can enhance V2X communication security, optimize resource utilization, ensure data integrity, and improve transaction security. Additionally, this paper explores future research directions, including advanced security mechanisms, efficient consensus algorithms, the integration of edge computing, and intelligent applications, demonstrating the potential of blockchain in tackling IoV system challenges.

Integrated super-resolution sensing and communication (ISSAC) has emerged as a promising technology to achieve extremely high precision sensing for those key parameters, such as the angles of the sensing targets. In this paper, we propose an efficient channel estimation scheme enabled by ISSAC for millimeter wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) systems with a hybrid analog/digital beamforming architecture, where both the pilot overhead and the cost of radio frequency (RF) chains are significantly reduced. The key idea is to exploit the fact that subspace-based super-resolution algorithms such as multiple signal classification (MUSIC) can estimate channel parameters accurately without requiring dedicated a priori known pilots. In particular, the proposed method consists of two stages. First, the angles of the multi-path channel components are estimated in a pilot-free manner during the transmission of data symbols. For hybrid beamforming structure, two approaches are introduced to obtain spatial covariance matrix in this stage. Second, the multi-path channel coefficients are estimated with very few pilots. Compared to conventional channel estimation schemes that rely solely on channel training, our approach requires estimating much fewer parameters in the second stage. Furthermore, with channel multi-path angles obtained, the hybrid beamforming gain can be achieved when pilots are sent to estimate the channel path gains. To comprehensively investigate the performance of the proposed scheme, we consider both the basic line-of-sight (LoS) channels and more general multi-path channels. We compare the performance of the mean square error (MSE) of channel estimation and the resulting hybrid beamforming gains of our proposed scheme with the traditional scheme that rely exclusively on channel training. It is demonstrated that our proposed method significantly outperforms the benchmarking scheme. Simulation results are presented to validate our theoretical findings.

Accurate radar-cross-section (RCS) characterization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), human heads, and combined human head-hand targets is essential for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) channel modeling. We therefore conduct monostatic RCS measurements over 0-360° azimuth in an anechoic chamber and derive statistical models for these targets. The measured RCS data are fitted using Rician, Gamma, and LogNormal distributions. Our analysis reveals that the Rician distribution is suitable for modeling small UAV RCS, while the Gamma distribution shows superiority for human head and combined human head-hand targets. Detailed distribution parameters are provided, offering valuable insights for predicting and evaluating the sensing performance of ISAC systems. These findings contribute to advancing ISAC channel research and practical applications.

Due to the elimination of cell boundaries, cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) facilitates seamless handover and ensures consistent service, making it suitable for high-speed railway communications. However, high mobility causes rapid variations in the train-to-ground wireless channel, leading to significant channel aging, which severely undermines channel state information accuracy and degrades system performance, especially in cell-free setups where channel hardening is limited. In this paper, the impact of channel aging caused by high-speed train movement and the performance gains achievable through downlink training are investigated. We derive the downlink spectral efficiency (SE) and compare the outcomes for cases with and without downlink training for cell-free massive MIMO systems. Given the limited coherence time, an algorithm is proposed to mitigate the overhead from downlink training, which enables users to select distributed access points based on large-scale fading coefficients. Orthogonal pilot sequences are allocated to users associated with the same access point, effectively lowering pilot overhead and mitigating pilot contamination. Simulation results demonstrate that the benefits of downlink training offset the performance loss due to limited data transmission time, thereby enhancing system SE. Moreover, in situations characterized by elevated user density, the proposed pilot assignment algorithm markedly improves the system's total SE.

Full-duplex (FD) integrated access and backhaul (IAB) system requires effective self-interference (SI) suppression, relying on accurate channel estimation with high pilot overheads. This paper proposes a cost-effective end-to-end (E2E) hybrid beamforming framework for FD enabled millimeter-wave (mmWave) IAB systems with implicit channel state information (CSI), which unifies the pilot training and data communication to avoid accurate channel estimation. We introduce a Sensing Transformer block to sense spatial channels of the network, where sensing vectors are designed for pilot observation. Specifically, the Sensing Transformer is designed to implement an attention mechanism to effectively leverage implicit CSI from sequential pilot observations with an arbitrary length. Thereafter, we combine graph neural networks and Transformer mechanisms as a novel Graphformer algorithm to design hybrid beamformers with high spectrum efficiency, which can efficiently mitigate multi-user interference and SI via capturing both local and global spatial structure features of the whole network. Numerical results verify that: 1) The proposed E2E framework can significantly improve the spectrum efficiency with lower pilot overheads compared with the conventional method with explicit channel estimation. 2) The proposed E2E framework exhibits superior channel sensing and interference cancellation performance over traditional learning-based schemes across various network configurations, even with modest pilot overheads.

With the rise of the internet of things demanding low latency, the significance of real-time transmission communications is being increasingly emphasized. In real-time transmission systems, there are two ways to do the transmission: without and with channel coding, and therefore, it is worth comparing the performance of these ways. In this paper, the distortions of these two systems are derived. Specifically, a general formula for calculating distortion in wireless communication systems is first provided. Next, variations of the formula are developed for three standard wireless communication systems: single-input, single-output (SISO); multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) with a Gaussian channel; and mmWave MIMO. Theoretical derivations, supported by simulation results, demonstrate that systems without channel coding exhibit less distortion than those with channel coding on average.

A covert communication approach in time-frequency domain is presented. By deliberately embedding covert signal into the primary transmitted signal, the covert signal is completely hidden, rendering conventional signal detection methods ineffective. However, the synchrosqueezing transform (SST) maps the signal into the time-frequency domain, resulting in improved time-frequency localization and more effective separation of its components. Based on the proposed instantaneous frequency (IF) curve extraction and filtered reconstruction scheme, the waveform of the covert signal can be automatically extracted. Experimental results from synthetic signal testing validate the efficiency of the proposed method, demonstrating its potential for covert communication applications.

This work presents a concept of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with wideband, high isolation, and high gain characteristics. Wideband performance is achieved using a patch antenna with a substrate suspended from an air gap. Unlike the conventional MIMO designs, in which only one element is excited for each port, the proposed antenna excites two MIMO elements simultaneously with the aid of a wideband hybrid coupler. Consequently, high gain radiation without requiring additional MIMO element and high isolation can be simultaneously achieved. A prototype designing at the central frequency of 2.45 GHz has been fabricated and measured, showing an impedance bandwidth of 25.7% (2.11--2.74~GHz) with a minimum isolation between two ports of 15 dB, and a peak gain of about 10.35 dBi.

This paper presents an 8-port multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array with single-layer and compact size characteristics for 5G internet of things (IoT) devices. The proposed array employs four dual-polarized radiators arranged in a $2 \times 2$ configuration to realize 8 uncorrelated streams. Each radiator is formed by combining a crossed patch with four parasitic elements for bandwidth enhancement. For mutual coupling mitigation, multiple shorting pins are inserted between the radiators. Accordingly, high isolation can be obtained without requiring large spacing between the MIMO elements. The final array has overall dimensions of $57.2 \text{ mm} \times 57.2 \text{ mm} \times 1.6 \text{ mm}$, or about $0.82\lambda \times 0.82\lambda \times 0.02\lambda$ at the lower edge frequency of the operating band from $4.32$ to $4.68 \text{ GHz}$, corresponding to about 8%. Across this band, the inter-port isolations are always better than $17 \text{ dB}$.

The low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks play an important role in the future communication networks. However, under the end-to-end (E2E) transmission background, inter-satellite routing has been widely studied, but the influence of ground-satellite links (GSL) on routing has received less attention. In this paper, a fast E2E satellite routing algorithm based on access node selection is proposed. Firstly, the delay of four path modes generated by users accessing the network from different satellites is analyzed, and the influence of delay on E2E routing performance is presented. Then, jointly considering routing delay and node load, an access node selection strategy is proposed by using the shortest E2E delay to determine the access source and destination node within satellites. Finally, an optimization domain is divided from the network topology by using the shortest delay path based on hops constraints. And a routing optimization algorithm based on Q-learning has been proposed in the optimization domain, realizing high computational speed and stable results. The simulation results show that the access node selection strategy can decrease E2E delay by up to $10$~ms and enhance the performance of node load balancing. And the routing optimization algorithm can reduce the average computation time.

IEEE 802.11ax introduces orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology to achieve parallel access for multiple users. However, when a large number of users access, the probability of collision will be greatly increased, resulting in greatly reduced throughput. In high-density wireless networks, in order to reduce collisions between users, a hybrid contention/designation-based uplink OFDMA random access (HCDRA) scheme is proposed. The proposed scheme adopts a hybrid of contention and transmission of designation, where the access point (AP) arranges one of the collided stations (STA) on the resource unit (RU) for transmission of designation in the next transmission, and other STAs still follow the traditional contention mechanism. The addition of designated transmission scheme can effectively reduce the intensity of contention and improve the utilization rate of RU without knowing the prior STA and without increasing the overhead of the sensing time. The proposed scheme can greatly improve throughput and latency performance without introducing additional overhead. Moreover, our proposed hybrid scheme has almost no changes to the IEEE 802.11ax standard protocol, and is suitable for IEEE 802.11ax and beyond. The feasibility of the proposed scheme has been demonstrated through numerical simulation results.

In the process of minimizing the training loss of machine learning model pursuit, it is very easy to inadvertently remember sensitive private data, which leads to data reconstruction, member reasoning attacks and other security problems. In order to mitigate these risks, differentiated privacy has become a key standard for privacy preserving machine learning. The classical differential privacy depth learning algorithm, differential privacy stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD), that adapts the standard stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithm to incorporate differential privacy, ensuring that the trained model doesn't reveal sensitive information about individual training data points. However, DP-SGD has the problems of slow convergence speed and large utility loss. We propose an effective solution that is the cooperative combination of selective updating and early vertical gradient disturbance. Selective updating ensures that the training track of the model is aligned with the optimal direction, significantly accelerating convergence. Subsequently, the application of vertical gradient perturbation ensures that the model with significantly improved accuracy can be achieved even under strict privacy constraints (small privacy budget). Through theoretical analysis and a large number of experiments, this paper proves that DP-VGPSU has superior performance in convergence speed and accuracy.

Utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for flexible and efficient mobile data dissemination offers a promising solution for infrastructure-less internet of things applications. This paper investigates a UAV-enabled data dissemination system in which a multiantenna UAV is deployed to disseminate data to ground terminals (GTs). Under the constraints of UAV speed, communication outage probability (OP), UAV transmission power, and task data size, we aim to minimize the system mission completion time (MCT) by optimizing the UAV trajectory, UAV-GT transmission scheduling, and bandwidth allocation, while considering the imperfect channel state information (CSI). To address this challenging problem, we introduce matched-filter precoding and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) techniques and propose a two-stage optimization algorithm. Initially, an offline optimization algorithm is developed to determine the optimum UAV trajectory and the MCT. Subsequently, an online optimization algorithm is proposed to enhance the subchannel and transmission power allocation. Finally, the numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, demonstrating a substantial improvement in the time efficiency of UAV data dissemination.

Mobile edge computing (MEC) has been envisioned as an important technique of the 5th generation (5G) wireless networks to handle computation tasks from mobile terminal devices (TDs). To accommodate the low-delay requirements of mobile TDs with latency-sensitive and computation-intensive applications, we propose an edge-edge collaborative paradigm for software-defined networking (SDN)-enabled MEC networks by merging adjacent MEC servers with redundant computing resources to execute offloading tasks. Meanwhile, since task data distributed among various edge computation nodes is vulnerable to malicious attacks and eavesdropping, resulting in data and privacy leakage. We take secure offloading service into account and attempt to minimize the total cost of all offloading tasks by the optimal scheme, jointly considering offloading decision, security level and computing resource assignment. To reduce the total cost of all offloading tasks mainly caused by wireless communication, energy consumption and secure computing, we propose an optimization framework which can dynamically adjust the task offloading decision, security level and computing resource allocation policy simultaneously in MEC networks. We formalize the problem as a multi-agent decision based optimization problem, and further address it by using a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based method. Numerical results illustrate that the proposed DRL-based method is superior to the benchmark methods in terms of the total cost and support ratio.

Cognitive radio enables efficient utilization of spectrum resources and adapts to changing environments through intelligent sensing and adaptability. However, centralized spectrum allocation limits their efficiency. This paper proposes a blockchain-based priority auction consensus mechanism for dynamic spectrum allocation in cognitive radio. The distributed spectrum allocation improves efficiency, the use of blockchain ensures transparent and secure transactions, while the priority auction consensus ensures the communication quality of users. Simulation results validate that primary users achieve near-optimal performance, while secondary and other users guarantee communication performance, resulting in an overall spectrum utilization close to 100%. These highlight the potential of the priority auction consensus mechanism in enhancing the spectrum management of cognitive radio networks.

Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly transforming the design and operation of communication systems, while the advent of 6G networks provides the infrastructure necessary to sustain their unprecedented scale. This survey investigates the bidirectional relationship between LLMs and 6G networks from two complementary perspectives. From the perspective of LLM for Network, we illustrate how LLMs can enhance network management, strengthen security, optimize resource allocation, and act as intelligent agents. By leveraging their natural language understanding and reasoning capabilities, LLMs offer new opportunities for intent-driven orchestration, anomaly detection, and adaptive optimization beyond the scope of conventional AI models. From the Network for LLM perspective, we discuss how 6G-native features support scalable, efficient, and sustainable LLM training and inference across the edge and cloud. Building on these two perspectives, we identify key challenges related to scalability and efficiency, robustness and security, as well as trustworthiness and sustainability. We further highlight open research directions as well. We envision that this work serves as a roadmap for cross-disciplinary research, fostering the integration of LLMs and 6G toward trustworthy and intelligent next-generation communication systems.

In this paper, we proposed a novel millimeter wave channel emulation platform for satellite communication scenarios that can support Q/V frequency bands with a maximum bandwidth of 1 GHz. The platform has been calibrated for frequency flatness and frequency offset, and its reliability has been demonstrated through closed-loop verification based on standard testing instruments. At the same time, a method for modeling and analyzing satellite channels and real-time emulation environment was constructed, which can model and analyze satellite channels in different application scenarios. The obtained channel parameters are injected into the channel emulation platform to achieve real-time emulation of satellite channels in various application scenarios (stationary, vehicle mounted, shipborne, airborne, etc.). Finally, we conducted performance verification on the constructed satellite channel hardware-in-the-loop simulation system. This platform can provide support for key technology research and equipment performance evaluation in satellite communication.

Given the rapid advancements in wireless communication and terminal devices, high-speed and convenient Wi-Fi has permeated various aspects of people's lives, and attention has been drawn to the location services that Wi-Fi can provide. Fingerprint-based methods, as an excellent approach for localization, have gradually become a hot research topic. However, in practical localization, fingerprint features of traditional methods suffer from low reliability and lacking robustness in complex indoor environments. To address the identified shortcomings, this paper introduces Secci, an innovative feature-enhanced intelligent localization system underpinned by a squeeze-and-excitation convolutional neural network (SE-CNN) model, utilizing a rich array of channel state information (CSI) data. By modifying the device driver, diversified CSI data are extracted and converted into red, green, and blue (RGB) CSI images, which serve as input to the SE-CNN training in the offline stage, leveraging the SE network's attention mechanism for improved performance. Employing a greedy probabilistic approach, rapid prediction of the estimated location is performed in the online stage using test CSI images. The Secci system is implemented using off-the-shelf Wi-Fi devices, and comprehensive experiments are carried out in two representative indoor environments to showcase the superior performance of Secci compared to four existing algorithms.

Orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) has been broadly studied and applied in various fields due to its robustness in high dynamic scenes. In this paper, we investigate the application of OTFS in radar-embedded communication systems, and propose an OTFS-based radar-embedded communication model suitable for high-speed mobile scenarios. By comparing the communication reliability at different velocities, the benefits of OTFS-based radar-embedded communication systems over conventional linear frequency modulation (LFM) based systems are verified. The proposed algorithm also shows excellent radar detection performance, and compensates the channel state information according to the motion parameters of the target to achieve more accurate communication reception. Besides that, our algorithm exhibits superior covertness performance to that of LFM.

In this paper, we investigate the secure communication in internet-of-things (IoT) network. Specifically, we propose a novel dual-IRS-UAV assisted secure transmission scheme, wherein two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), each carriying an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), can adjust their horizontal positions to efficiently assist the secure transmission from the IoT data sender to the receivers. We aim to maximize the minimum system secrecy rate by jointly optimizing the horizontal locations of UAVs, the transmit beamforming of IoT data sender and the reflection phase shifts of IRSs. The considered problem is non-convex. We first divide it into several sub-problems which are then transformed using the first-order Taylor expansion approach, which can be solved by standard optimization tools. Numerical results show the performance gain in minimum system secrecy rate achieved by the proposed dual-IRS-UAV assisted secure transmission scheme over the benchmark schemes.

With the development of internet of things (IoT) technology, sensor networks are used in a wide variety of fields. However, the energy replenishment of sensor nodes (SNs) is still a challenge. In this paper, we propose an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wireless charging strategy (WCS), which can jointly maximize the system profit and the number of survival nodes through an efficient charging order. To effectively reduce the data transmission delay, we group the nodes to realize the data collection solely by cluster head (CH). In the proposed charging order algorithm, we particularly design a CH replacement scheme when the original head runs out of energy before the UAV arrives. Compared with other UAV charging schemes, the proposed WCS shows a better performance in terms of system profit and time delay. Furthermore, it ensures a rather satisfying node survival rate.