A Distributed Decoding Algorithm for 6G Internet-of-Things Networks

With the standardization and the commercialization of 5G, the research on 6G technology is started. The Internet-of-Things (IoT) draws substantial interests in recent years due to its great potential for several applications in 6G wireless communication systems. As massive access and explosive data transmission are expected, the robustness and scalability are two key aspects for 6G IoT networks. In IoT networks, the said "things" (users) can collect environmental data in real time by adopting various multi-functional wireless sensors. Conventionally, the collected data are feedback to a central unit for further processing. However, the performance of this scheme relies on the normal operation of the central unit, which is not robust to the malfunction of central unit. This paper proposes a distributed decoding algorithm that the decoding is done at local users by enabling the cooperation and information exchange between users. As a result, each user achieves a decoding performance similar to that of the centralized approach which improves the robustness and the scalability of the network. Meanwhile, compared to the conventional distributed decoding approach, the proposed algorithm does not require that each user has the perfect knowledge of the network topology. Therefore, the proposed algorithm lays the foundation of 6G IoT networks.