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Toward Interactive Multi-User Extended Reality Using Millimeter-Wave Networking

Jakob Struye, Sam Van Damme, Nabeel Nisar Bhat, Arno Troch, Barend Van Liempd, Hany Assasa, Filip Lemic, Jeroen Famaey, Maria Torres Vega

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the feasibility of interactive multi-user XR over millimeter-wave networks and argues that current mmWave capabilities fall short of the extreme data-rate, latency, and reliability requirements. It outlines a collaborative XR framework with edge-based content generation and dense mmWave access, detailing architectural and QoS demands. The authors identify key research directions—proactive receive-side beamforming, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, ultra-low-latency channel access, integrated sensing and communication, end-to-end streaming, and human-centric perception—to bridge the gap toward truly wireless XR. The work highlights the practical significance of these directions for enabling immersive shared experiences across co-located and remote users, with a realistic appraisal of current hardware limitations and path forward.

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) enables a plethora of novel interactive shared experiences. Ideally, users are allowed to roam around freely, while audiovisual content is delivered wirelessly to their Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Therefore, truly immersive experiences will require massive amounts of data, in the range of tens of gigabits per second, to be delivered reliably at extremely low latencies. We identify Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) communications, at frequencies between 24 and 300 GHz, as a key enabler for such experiences. In this article, we show how the mmWave state of the art does not yet achieve sufficient performance, and identify several key active research directions expected to eventually pave the way for extremely-high-quality mmWave-enabled interactive multi-user XR.

Toward Interactive Multi-User Extended Reality Using Millimeter-Wave Networking

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the feasibility of interactive multi-user XR over millimeter-wave networks and argues that current mmWave capabilities fall short of the extreme data-rate, latency, and reliability requirements. It outlines a collaborative XR framework with edge-based content generation and dense mmWave access, detailing architectural and QoS demands. The authors identify key research directions—proactive receive-side beamforming, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, ultra-low-latency channel access, integrated sensing and communication, end-to-end streaming, and human-centric perception—to bridge the gap toward truly wireless XR. The work highlights the practical significance of these directions for enabling immersive shared experiences across co-located and remote users, with a realistic appraisal of current hardware limitations and path forward.

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) enables a plethora of novel interactive shared experiences. Ideally, users are allowed to roam around freely, while audiovisual content is delivered wirelessly to their Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). Therefore, truly immersive experiences will require massive amounts of data, in the range of tens of gigabits per second, to be delivered reliably at extremely low latencies. We identify Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) communications, at frequencies between 24 and 300 GHz, as a key enabler for such experiences. In this article, we show how the mmWave state of the art does not yet achieve sufficient performance, and identify several key active research directions expected to eventually pave the way for extremely-high-quality mmWave-enabled interactive multi-user XR.
Paper Structure (13 sections, 5 figures)

This paper contains 13 sections, 5 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Collaborative Wireless XR
  3. System Architecture
  4. Requirements
  5. Existing Solutions and Shortcomings
  6. Open Challenges and Way Forward
  7. Beamforming for mobile users
  8. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
  9. High-Data Rate Low-Latency Channel Access
  10. Integrated Sensing and Communication
  11. Low Latency End-to-End Streaming
  12. Multi-User, Human-Centric Perception
  13. Conclusion

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: Overview of the envisioned multi-user interactive scenario.
  • Figure 2: Perceived video quality comparison for the HTC Vive in wired and (un)obstructed wireless scenarios. A higher VMAF score is better.
  • Figure 3: Throughput, latency and loss with mmWave hardware, for a single and user, both static and under moderate motion (45°s), with parameters optimized for either throughput or mobility.
  • Figure 4: -side beamforming should proactively adapt to expected upcoming rotations, such that receive gain remains consistently high during rapid user motion.
  • Figure 5: Adaptive scheduling for a multi-AP, multi-user, multi-channel deployment. During transmission of image $n+1$ to C, the connection is suddenly interrupted (e.g., due to hand blockage), after which C is rapidly moved to another and given two channels to ensure the image deadline is met. To facilitate this, A switches to the other .