Sixth-generation mobile communication (6G) aims to further improve capacity and reliability by controlling the radio propagation environment. Millimeter wave (mmWave) high-frequency band communication offers large bandwidth at the cost of high attenuation, even for smaller distances. Due to this, fewer multiple input multiple outputs (MIMO) multiplexing is possible at the base station (BS). Distributed analog relay nodes with beamforming capability improve the received power and MIMO multiplexing of mmWave communication. Due to limited signal processing, the analog relay node cannot perform beam search and tracking using these mmWave reference signals. The beam search and tracking are possible at BS or user equipment at the cost of increased control overhead. To reduce this overhead and provide relay-based 6G communication, we propose user-driven relay beamforming methods which can obtain the benefits of a massive analog relay MIMO. Assuming vehicular-to-everything (V2X) as a 6G application, we considered a relay-beam control method that uses the user information (location, velocity, acceleration, and direction of the terminal) contained in intelligent transport systems (ITS) messages called Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM). Simulation results show that the proposed method significantly reduces the overhead and the obtains benefits of the massive analog-relay MIMO. Furthermore, the accuracy of CAM's location information, the control period, and the effects of UE mobility are evaluated and presented. The results also show that the proposed method can work effectively in future V2X applications.
Keywords: 6G; amplifier-and-forward; beam tracking; cooperative awareness message; location-based beamforming; massive analog-relay MIMO.