Environment Division Multiple Access (EDMA): A Feasibility Study via Pinching Antennas

Ding Z, Schober R, Poor HV (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Book Volume: 25

Pages Range: 15675 - 15691

DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2026.3683028

Abstract

This paper exploits the dynamic features of wireless propagation environments as the basis for a new multiple access technique, termed environment division multiple access (EDMA). In particular, with the proposed pinching-antenna-assisted EDMA, the multi-user propagation environment is intelligently reconfigured to improve the signal strength at intended receivers and simultaneously suppress multiple-access interference, without requiring complex signal processing, e.g., precoding, beamforming, or multi-user detection. The key to creating a favorable propagation environment is to utilize the capability of pinching antennas to reconfigure line-of-sight (LoS) links, e.g., pinching antennas are placed at specific locations, such that interference links are blocked on purpose. Based on a straightforward choice of the pinching-antenna locations, the ergodic sum-rate gain of EDMA over conventional multiple access and the probability that EDMA achieves a larger instantaneous sum rate than the considered benchmarking scheme are derived in closed form. The obtained analytical results demonstrate the significant potential of EDMA for supporting multi-user communications. Furthermore, pinching antenna location optimization is also investigated, since the locations of the pinching antennas are critical for reconfiguring LoS links and large-scale path losses. Two low-complexity algorithms are developed for uplink and downlink transmission, respectively, and simulation results are provided to show their optimality in comparison to exhaustive searches.

Authors with CRIS profile

Robert Schober Lehrstuhl für Digitale Übertragung (IDC)

Involved external institutions

National University of Singapore (NUS) SG Singapore (SG) Princeton University US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Ding, Z., Schober, R., & Poor, H.V. (2026). Environment Division Multiple Access (EDMA): A Feasibility Study via Pinching Antennas. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 25, 15675 - 15691. https://doi.org/10.1109/TWC.2026.3683028

MLA:

Ding, Zhiguo, Robert Schober, and H. Vincent Poor. "Environment Division Multiple Access (EDMA): A Feasibility Study via Pinching Antennas." IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 25 (2026): 15675 - 15691.

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