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arXiv:2610.15306

Rydberg Atomic Quantum Receivers for OFDM Systems: An Atomic-Comb Design

Yuanbin Chen, Chong Meng Samson See, Chau Yuen

cs.ITphysics.atom-phquant-phSubmitted Oct 11, 2026• Announced Oct 13, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQR) exhibit exceptional sensitivity to radio-frequency (RF) signals, positioning them as promising candidates for next-generation wireless systems. Extending their capabilities to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), however, requires atomic responses that go beyond broadband reception and are tailored to the structured interference of multicarrier signals. To bridge this gap, we develop an atomic-comb Rydberg receiver based on six-wave mixing (SWM) transduction. In particular, injecting a multi-tone local oscillator (LO) into the RAQR generates frequency-shifted replicas of the intrinsic SWM response. By subtly tuning the amplitude and phase of each LO tone, constructive and destructive interference can be selectively induced to preserve desired response components while attenuating harmful frequency offsets. Furthermore, we harness the response-reshaping capability of the proposed atomic comb to proactively mitigate OFDM interference. More explicitly, by exploiting the discrete difference-frequency structure of both carrier-frequency-offset (CFO)-induced and phase-noise (PN)-induced inter-carrier interference (ICI), we optimize the atomic-comb response to suppress dominant ICI components directly. We further reveal an intrinsic coupling between spectral shaping and the time-domain effective channel memory, motivating a joint optimization of both ICI and inter-symbol interference (ISI), which simultaneously suppresses inter-carrier leakage and post-cyclic-prefix (CP) tail energy. Extensive simulation results validate our atomic-comb design, unveiling that the proposed atomic comb can effectively reshape the receiver response over the OFDM, while mitigating ICI, shortening the effective channel memory, and substantially lowering CP overhead.

AI Summary

The paper asks whether a Rydberg-atom RF receiver can be programmed to mitigate OFDM inter-carrier interference (ICI) and shorten the effective channel memory, rather than serving only as a broadband transducer. It proposes a six-wave-mixing receiver driven by a multi-tone local oscillator (LO). In a small-signal model, the LO produces coherently weighted, frequency-shifted copies of a two-pole atomic response, giving $H_{\mathrm{AC}}(f)=\sum_r L_rH_{\mathrm A}(f-r\Delta f_{\mathrm{LO}})$. The analysis expresses post-equalization ICI through CFO/phase-noise leakage weights and source-to-destination response ratios $H_{k+n}/H_k$. Complex LO weights are optimized under reference-gain and power constraints. A joint formulation minimizes normalized finite-cyclic-prefix (CP) distortion while keeping ICI no worse than the single-LO baseline; the resulting nonconvex problems are treated using successive convex approximation. Evidence comes from an atomic response instantiated using a six-level $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ QuTiP calculation and OFDM simulations. The reported average ICI-power reduction is $29.27\%$ (approximately $1.5$ dB) relative to single-LO reception. In a 128-subcarrier simulation with 16 active carriers and 13 LO tones, joint shaping reduces the CP required for a $-20$ dB residual-ISI threshold from approximately 18 samples for conventional RF and 13-tap equalizer baselines to 11, increasing maximum feasible spectral efficiency by roughly $5.3$–$5.4\%$. The paper explicitly notes that attenuating an active subcarrier also weakens its desired signal, flat magnitude responses leave little scope for this ICI-suppression mechanism, and ICI-only shaping can lengthen temporal tails. Results are simulation-based, without an experimental multi-tone receiver demonstration.

Likely largely AI-generatedIncrementalStrong assumptionsPossible errorMissing comparison

Central claim may not hold: The central multi-tone atomic-comb transfer function is assumed without a derivation or reported multi-tone atomic-dynamics validation, so the receiver-level results remain conditional on its physical validity. The simulation discussion sometimes explains aggregate ICI using a reference-subcarrier response ratio even though the paper correctly establishes that aggregate ICI requires ratios across all source–destination subcarrier pairs. The reported −22.77 dB residual ISI at CP length 8 already satisfies the stated −20 dB feasibility threshold, contradicting the claimed first feasible CP length of 11 for the same selected design.

Written by gpt-6.1-sol from the paper's full text. Automated: it can be wrong.

Comments
This manuscript has been submitted to IEEE journal

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Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQR) exhibit exceptional sensitivity to radio-frequency (RF) signals, positioning them as promising candidates for next-generation wireless systems. Extending their capabilities to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), however, requires atomic responses that go beyond broadband reception and are tailored to the structured interference of multicarrier signals. To bridge this gap, we develop an atomic-comb Rydberg receiver based on six-wave mixing (SWM) transduction. In particular, injecting a multi-tone local oscillator (LO) into the RAQR generates frequency-shifted replicas of the intrinsic SWM response. By subtly tuning the amplitude and phase of each LO tone, constructive and destructive interference can be selectively induced to preserve desired response components while attenuating harmful frequency offsets. Furthermore, we harness the response-reshaping capability of the proposed atomic comb to proactively mitigate OFDM interference. More explicitly, by exploiting the discrete difference-frequency structure of both carrier-frequency-offset (CFO)-induced and phase-noise (PN)-induced inter-carrier interference (ICI), we optimize the atomic-comb response to suppress dominant ICI components directly. We further reveal an intrinsic coupling between spectral shaping and the time-domain effective channel memory, motivating a joint optimization of both ICI and inter-symbol interference (ISI), which simultaneously suppresses inter-carrier leakage and post-cyclic-prefix (CP) tail energy. Extensive simulation results validate our atomic-comb design, unveiling that the proposed atomic comb can effectively reshape the receiver response over the OFDM, while mitigating ICI, shortening the effective channel memory, and substantially lowering CP overhead.
The paper asks whether a Rydberg-atom RF receiver can be programmed to mitigate OFDM inter-carrier interference (ICI) and shorten the effective channel memory, rather than serving only as a broadband transducer. It proposes a six-wave-mixing receiver driven by a multi-tone local oscillator (LO). In a small-signal model, the LO produces coherently weighted, frequency-shifted copies of a two-pole atomic response, giving HAC(f)=∑rLrHA(f−rΔfLO)H_{\mathrm{AC}}(f)=\sum_r L_rH_{\mathrm A}(f-r\Delta f_{\mathrm{LO}})HAC​(f)=∑r​Lr​HA​(f−rΔfLO​).
The analysis expresses post-equalization ICI through CFO/phase-noise leakage weights and source-to-destination response ratios Hk+n/HkH_{k+n}/H_kHk+n​/Hk​. Complex LO weights are optimized under reference-gain and power constraints. A joint formulation minimizes normalized finite-cyclic-prefix (CP) distortion while keeping ICI no worse than the single-LO baseline; the resulting nonconvex problems are treated using successive convex approximation.
Evidence comes from an atomic response instantiated using a six-level 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb QuTiP calculation and OFDM simulations. The reported average ICI-power reduction is 29.27%29.27\%29.27% (approximately 1.51.51.5 dB) relative to single-LO reception. In a 128-subcarrier simulation with 16 active carriers and 13 LO tones, joint shaping reduces the CP required for a −20-20−20 dB residual-ISI threshold from approximately 18 samples for conventional RF and 13-tap equalizer baselines to 11, increasing maximum feasible spectral efficiency by roughly 5.35.35.3–5.4%5.4\%5.4%.
The paper explicitly notes that attenuating an active subcarrier also weakens its desired signal, flat magnitude responses leave little scope for this ICI-suppression mechanism, and ICI-only shaping can lengthen temporal tails. Results are simulation-based, without an experimental multi-tone receiver demonstration.
As a key enabler for next-generation wireless systems, integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) requires significantly higher receiver sensitivity than conventional architectures to achieve long-range target detection, thereby introducing new challenges in receiver design. Among potential solutions, Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs) have attracted growing attention for their unique quantum sensing capabilities. By exploiting the exceptional responsiveness of Rydberg atoms to electromagnetic fields, RAQRs enable direct and highly sensitive measurement of radio-frequency (RF) signals without relying on traditional antenna-based front ends. However, this enhanced sensitivity also renders them more vulnerable to interference, particularly from undesired targets and long-delay multipath components. To address this limitation, this article presents practical strategies for improving the interference robustness and selective reception performance of RAQRs in ISAC scenarios. Specifically, we begin with a comprehensive overview of RAQR principles and identify the interference-related challenges encountered in ISAC applications. Building on this foundation, we introduce the Actively Selective RAQR (AS-RAQR) architecture, which integrates tunable gating mechanisms to actively suppress unwanted signals. The proposed design is validated through representative case studies, followed by a discussion of open challenges and future research directions.
Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs) are capable of receiving multi-band radio-frequency (RF) signals simultaneously, which are expected to break Chu's limit for classical electronic antennas. However, signals from different users will interfere with each other in the optical intermediate frequency (IF) domain of the multi-band quantum receiver, which is termed the IF interference (IFI) problem. To address this problem, in this paper, we propose a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) architecture for Rydberg atomic quantum receiver (RAQ-MIMO) by exploiting the additional spatial diversity of MIMO receivers. Specifically, by applying the dynamic signal model of RAQRs, we clarify the physical relationship between the quantum local oscillator (LO) configurations and the multi-band gains with the concept of quantum transconductance. Then, with the quantum transconductance-based signal model, we formulate the spectral efficiency (SE) maximization problem and further propose the quantum weighted minimum mean square error (qWMMSE) algorithm, which jointly optimizes the quantum LO configurations and the classical precoder/combiner matrices. Furthermore, we test the qWMMSE algorithm within the standard space division multiple access (SDMA) scheme and the frequency division multiple access (FDMA) scheme. Simulation results demonstrate that the qWMMSE optimization framework can significantly improve the SE of RAQ-MIMO systems for both multiple access schemes, and that RAQ-MIMO systems can outperform classical electronic receiver-based multi-user MIMO systems by eliminating the mutual coupling effect between classical antennas.
The significant progress of quantum sensing technologies offer numerous radical solutions for measuring a multitude of physical quantities at an unprecedented precision. Among them, Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs) emerge as an eminent solution for detecting the electric field of radio frequency (RF) signals, exhibiting great potential in assisting classical wireless communications and sensing. So far, most experimental studies have aimed for the proof of physical concepts to reveal its promise, while the practical signal model of RAQR-aided wireless communications and sensing remained under-explored. Furthermore, the performance of RAQR-based wireless receivers and their advantages over classical RF receivers have not been fully characterized. To fill these gaps, we introduce the RAQR to the wireless community by presenting an end-to-end reception scheme. We then develop a corresponding equivalent baseband signal model relying on a realistic reception flow. Our scheme and model provide explicit design guidance to RAQR-aided wireless systems. We next study the performance of RAQR-aided wireless systems based on our model, and compare them to classical RF receivers. The results show that Doppler broadening-free RAQRs are capable of achieving a substantial received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain of over 27 decibel (dB) and 40 dB in the photon shot limit and standard quantum limit regimes, respectively.
Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs) have emerged as highly sensitive receivers for future communication and sensing systems. However, conventional RAQRs are primarily effective for single-carrier and narrowband reception, typically with an operational bandwidth of only a few hundred kilohertz. To enable the reception of multi-carrier signals with larger bandwidth, we propose a multi-carrier Rydberg atomic quantum receiver (MC-RAQR) architecture based on a five-level quantum system model. We analyze the amplitude and phase of the output laser in MC-RAQR and extract the baseband electrical signal for signal processing. Furthermore, we quantify the performance of MC-RAQR in multi-carrier communication and sensing by studying the channel capacity and distance estimation, respectively. Numerical results show that the MC-RAQR is capable of achieving a bandwidth of 7.27.27.2 MHz, which is an order of magnitude larger than conventional RAQRs. Besides, compared to conventional receivers, MC-RAQR can improve the capacity and distance estimation by 181818-fold and 10310^3103-fold, respectively. This validates the superiority of MC-RAQR in receiving multi-carrier signal, and demonstrates its compatibility in detecting waveforms such as orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing.
We propose a multi-chirp affine frequency division multiplexing (MC-AFDM) scheme for joint delay-Doppler estimation with Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs). The work is motivated by the fact that RAQRs, while offering superior sensitivity and advantageous sensing capabilities, suffer from an optical ambiguity due to Doppler shifts in doubly-dispersive (DD) channel caused by target mobility, which precludes the reliable estimation of delay-Doppler parameters. To resolve this optical ambiguity and unleash the potential of RAQRs in DD channel, the proposed MC-AFDM employs multiple distinct AFDM post-chirp signals to overcome the rank-deficiency problem of the classical single-chirp AFDM (SC-AFDM), thereby enabling accurate delay-Doppler estimation of multiple targets. Our analysis reveals that the edge distribution of the multiple post-chirp parameters can further improve estimation accuracy by minimizing the condition number. Building on the proposed MC-AFDM waveform, we design a sequential signal processing algorithm based on orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) and least squares (LS), and we derive the theoretical lower bounds for delay and Doppler estimation. Numerical results show that the proposed MC-AFDM improves range and velocity estimation accuracy by up to two orders of magnitude compared to the classical SC-AFDM, and approaches its theoretical bounds through post-chirp optimization, validating the quantum-induced advantage of RAQRs for high-resolution quantum wireless sensing.
Rydberg atomic quantum receivers (RAQRs) have recently emerged as a promising technology for radio-frequency (RF) reception by directly transducing incident RF fields into optical signals. Existing receiver architectures, however, exploit only subsets of the dipole-allowed transitions within a given atomic manifold, limiting the number of simultaneously accessible RF channels. In this paper, a hybrid six-level Rydberg atomic quantum receiver (H-RAQR) is proposed by integrating parallel and cascaded RF coupling pathways within a single vapor-cell receiver. A communication-oriented analytical framework is developed by deriving a closed-form steady-state atom--field interaction model and establishing an equivalent baseband signal representation. The achievable ergodic sum rate is analyzed, and a resource-efficiency metric is introduced to quantify throughput per unit optical receiver resource. The analytical model is validated against full Lindblad master-equation simulations over its identified operating region. Numerical results show that the proposed H-RAQR supports four simultaneous RF channels within a single atomic system, achieves higher ergodic sum rate than conventional parallel Rydberg state (PRS) and cascade Rydberg state (CRS) receivers, and provides about 29% higher resource efficiency than a combined PRS-CRS deployment with equivalent four-band coverage. The proposed framework provides a scalable foundation for multi-band atomic wireless receivers.