Abstracts:Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) facilitate the conversion of analog signals into a digital format. While the specific designs and settings of ADCs can vary depending on the application, it is crucial in many modern applications to minimize the devices’ power consumption. The significance of low-power ADCs is particularly evident in fields like mobile and handheld devices reliant on battery operation. Key parameters that dictate ADCs’ power are the sampling rate, dynamic range (DR), and number of quantization bits. Typically, these parameters are required to be higher than a threshold value but can be reduced by using the structure of the signal and by leveraging preprocessing and the system application needs. In this article, we discuss four approaches relevant to a variety of applications.
Abstracts:Over-the-air computation (AirComp) leverages the signal superposition characteristic of wireless multiple-access channels (MACs) to perform mathematical computations. Initially introduced to enhance communication reliability in interference channels and wireless sensor networks (WSNs), AirComp has more recently found applications in task-oriented communications like wireless distributed learning and in wireless control systems. Its adoption aims to address latency challenges arising from an increased number of edge devices or Internet of Things (IoT) devices accessing the constrained wireless spectrum. This article is the first one to focus on the physical layer (PHY) of these systems. We present a unified framework, specifically on the waveform and the signal processing aspects at the transmitter and receiver, to meet the challenges that AirComp presents within the different contexts and use cases.