Topology Optimization for 6G Networks: A Network Information-Theoretic Approach

The classical approach of avoiding or ignoring interference in wireless networks cannot accommodate the ambitious quality-of-service (QoS) demands of ultradense cellular networks (CNs). However, recent ground-breaking information-theoretic advances have changed our perception of interference from that of a foe to a friend. This article aims to shed light on harnessing the benefits of integrating modern interference management (IM) schemes into future CNs. To this end, we envision a hybrid multiple-access (HMA) scheme that decomposes the network into subtopologies of potential IM schemes for more efficient utilization of network resources. Preliminary results show that an HMA scheme can multiply nonorthogonal multiple-access (NOMA) performance, especially under dense user deployment.