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Adaptive Source-Channel Coding for Semantic Communications

delete2026-08-18
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PRE
AI
D
Dongxu Li
K
Kai Yuan
J
Jianhao Huang
C
Chuan Huang
X
Xiaoqi Qin
S
Shuguang Cui
张平 (Ping Zhang)
DOI:10.1109/twc.2026.3723124delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Semantic communications (SemComs) have emerged as a promising paradigm for joint data and task-oriented transmissions, combining the demands for both bit-accurate delivery and end-to-end (E2E) distortion minimization. However, current joint source-channel coding (JSCC) in SemComs is not compatible with the existing communication systems and cannot adapt to the variations of the sources or the channels, while separate source-channel coding (SSCC) is suboptimal in the finite blocklength regime. To address these issues, we propose an adaptive source-channel coding (ASCC) scheme for SemComs over parallel Gaussian channels, where the deep neural network (DNN)-based semantic source coding and conventional digital channel coding are separately deployed and adaptively designed. To enable efficient adaptation between the source and channel coding, we first approximate the E2E data and semantic distortions as functions of source coding rate and bit error ratio (BER) via logistic regression, where BER is further modeled as functions of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and channel coding rate. Then, we formulate the weighted sum E2E distortion minimization problem for joint source-channel coding rate and power allocation over parallel channels, which is solved by the successive convex approximation. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed ASCC scheme outperforms typical deep JSCC and SSCC schemes for both the single- and parallel-channel scenarios while maintaining full compatibility with practical digital systems.
Keywords:
Semantic communications
task-oriented communications
adaptive source-channel coding
power allocation
rate adaptation

Journal

IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications cover
IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
IF:
10.7
Papers:
1.3W
Citations:
5.3W

Organization

U
university of electronic science and technology of china
Scholars:
1.2W
Papers: 4.4K
Citations: 4
B
beijing university of posts and telecommunications
Scholars:
2.0K
Papers: 749
Citations: 0
T
the chinese university of hong kong
Scholars:
3.7K
Papers: 1.8K
Citations: 0
T
The University of Hong Kong
Scholars:
5.9K
Papers: 2.9K
Citations: 7
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