Enable JSCC-Based CSI Feedback for B5G/6G: Design, Standardization, and Prototype

In modern wireless systems, the process of acquiring channel state information (CSI) has become increasingly important and challenging due to the conflicting needs of expanding antenna arrays and achieving high spectrum efficiency. Recent solutions leverage joint source and channel coding (JSCC) realized by an auto-encoder structure to enable a hybrid optimization of CSI compression and transmission, which shows great potential to improve the effectiveness of CSI feedback. However, the gap between research and realization is still big. This article proposes a comprehensive JSCC method for CSI feedback, including a technique solution for eliminating the impacts of residential fading and radio frequency (<tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{R F}$</tex>) imperfections, and a protocol design to support the realization of the method in practical cellular systems. Furthermore, a hardware proof-ofconcept (PoC) platform was developed to validate the JSCC-based CSI feedback, and the results demonstrate the superiority of the method in realistic environments.