Robust design for IRS-assisted multiuser systems under practical imperfections: a rate-splitting approach

In practical intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-assisted multiuser communication systems, inevitable imperfections such as hardware impairments, imperfect channel state information (CSI), and the limited resolution of the IRS phase shifts would introduce interference and thus cause significant performance degradation. As an interference management strategy, rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) employs the rate-splitting (RS) principle to partition user information into common and private parts, thereby offering enhanced robustness. Accounting for practical imperfections, this study investigates robust beamforming design in IRS-assisted multiuser systems under the RSMA architecture. First, we introduce a system model that captures these non-ideal factors and evaluate their impacts on communication performance. To enhance the performance of the considered system, a weighted sum rate maximization problem is formulated, for which a sample average approximation (SAA)-based robust algorithm is proposed to jointly optimize the IRS phase shifts and the beamforming matrix at the base station (BS). Simulation results demonstrate that the IRS-assisted RSMA system exhibits superior robustness compared to the IRS-assisted space division multiple access (SDMA) system in the presence of inevitable imperfections. Furthermore, the proposed SAA-based robust algorithm outperforms existing benchmark algorithms, highlighting its effectiveness and robustness.