Channel Estimation Overhead Reduction and AP/IRS Allocation Optimization in Joint Transmission-Enabled WLAN

Wireless local area networks (WLANs), which are now readily available to everyone, are expected to experience an increase in the per station (STA) with the development of high-definition video and sensing technology. To cope with this increase in demand, the use of the THz band has been considered. Additionally, a multi-access point (AP) communication environment, which is being considered as a successor standard to WLAN, will be introduced to increase the data rate through joint transmission (JT). Because the THz band is highly affected by shielding, we assume a communication environment with an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). Furthermore, since JT is a transmission scheme similar to distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), it requires accurate channel state information. However, increasing the number of APs and IRSs exponentially increases the paths that require channel estimation. In this study, we propose a method to reduce overhead by restricting the channel estimation process to only a limited number of paths. In addition, we suggest a clustering method that improves the data rate. Through numerical analysis, the effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated using a comparison method that uses only location information to allocate APs and IRSs that are close to each other.