Quantum-Inspired Resource Optimization for 6G Networks: A Survey

The Internet of things (IoT) drives an exponential surge in computing and communication devices. Consequently, it triggers capacity, coverage, interference, latency, and security issues in the existing communication networks. The forthcoming sixth-generation (6G) networks will address these issues by providing comprehensive solutions. In particular, quantum communication technology can potentially address the challenges of 6G networks. However, its implementation requires substantial infrastructure upgrades. Therefore, the quantum-inspired (QI) techniques offer an intermediate resort due to their ability to utilize the classical communication infrastructure for design and implementation. Hence, we review QI techniques in this survey that address radio resource optimization challenges across various communication aspects, including channel assignment, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, spectrum sensing, unmanned aerial vehicle-assisted networks, and related areas. The analysis explores diverse aspects, including objectives, constraints, problem characterization, proposed solutions, and lessons learnt. Research indicates that QI techniques offer advantages such as faster convergence and reduced complexity, providing promising solutions to complex optimization problems in communication networks. Furthermore, we identify the future directions, research gaps, and ongoing challenges from the QI radio resource optimization dataset.