Rate-Splitting Multiple Access for 6G: Prototypes, Experimental Results, and Link/System Level Simulations

Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA) is a powerful and versatile physical layer multiple access technique that generalizes and has better interference management capabilities than 5G-based Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA). It is also a rapidly maturing technology, all of which makes it a natural successor to SDMA in 6G. In this article, we describe RSMA’s suitability for 6G by presenting: i) link and system level simulations of RSMA’s performance gains over SDMA in realistic environments, and (ii) pioneering experimental results that demonstrate RSMA’s gains over SDMA for key use cases like enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), and Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC). We also comment on the status of standardization activities for RSMA.