Semantic Communication

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Overview

Semantic communication studies how to represent and transmit information that matters for a receiver’s task, such as recognizing objects, coordinating vehicles, or controlling robots, rather than reproducing a source exactly. Common approaches include learned joint source-channel coding, compact latent or token transmission, task-aware feature selection, and generative reconstruction, often adapted to channel quality and bandwidth. Systems are evaluated on tasks such as image classification, detection, video understanding, and cooperative perception across simulated and real wireless links. A central challenge is balancing task performance and semantic fidelity against rate, latency, computation, privacy, and robustness, while developing meaningful metrics that work across tasks and settings.

Latest papers

CardsList

104 papers11 papers in the last four weeks, down 15% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. PPO-Based Hybrid Optimization for RIS-Assisted Semantic Vehicular Edge Computing

    Mar 10, 2026Wei Feng, Jingbo Zhang, Qiong Wu +2Computation OffloadingEdge Computing

    School of Internet of Things Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China · State Key Laboratory of Space Network and Communications, Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology, Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China · Qualcomm, San Jose, CA 95110, USA

  2. Semantic Communication-Enhanced Split Federated Learning for Vehicular Networks: Architecture, Challenges, and Case Study

    Mar 5, 2026Lu Yu, Zheng Chang, Ying-Chang LiangSplit Federated LearningFederated Learning

    School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China · Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, FIN-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland · Center for Intelligent Networking and Communications (CINC), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 611731 Chengdu, China

  3. Video TokenCom: Textual Intent-Guided Multi-Rate Video Token Communications with UEP-Based Adaptive Source-Channel Coding

    Mar 2, 2026Jingxuan Men, Mahdi Boloursaz Mashhadi, Ning Wang +3Unequal Error ProtectionSemantic Communication

    5GIC & 6GIC, Institute for Communication Systems (ICS), University of Surrey, U.K. · Smart Internet Lab, University of Bristol, U.K. · British Telecom Research Lab, BT Group plc, U.K.

  4. Doubly Adaptive Channel and Spatial Attention for Semantic Image Communication by IoT Devices

    Feb 26, 2026Soroosh Miri, Sepehr Abolhasani, Shahrokh Farahmand +2Deep Joint Source-Channel CodingSpatial Attention

    School of Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran · Great Bay University, Dongguan 523000, China

  5. Federated Latent Space Alignment for Multi-user Semantic Communications

    Feb 19, 2026Giuseppe Di Poce, Mario Edoardo Pandolfo, Emilio Calvanese Strinati +1Semantic CommunicationLatent Space Alignment

    CEA Leti, University Grenoble Alpes, 38000, Grenoble, France. · DIAG Department, Sapienza University of Rome, via Ariosto 25, Rome, Italy. · Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Telecomunicazioni (CNIT), Parma, Italy. +1

  6. Latency-aware Human-in-the-Loop Reinforcement Learning for Semantic Communications

    Feb 17, 2026Peizheng Li, Xinyi Lin, Adnan AijazSemantic CommunicationTask-Oriented Semantic Communication

    Bristol Research and Innovation Laboratory, Toshiba Europe Ltd., U.K.

  7. SEG-JPEG: Simple Visual Semantic Communications for Remote Operation of Automated Vehicles over Unreliable Wireless Networks

    Feb 16, 2026Sebastian Donnelly, Ruth Anderson, George Economides +4Semantic CommunicationAutonomous Driving

    Autonomous Driving and Intelligent Transport Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK · Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford, UK · Department for Transport, London, UK +2

  8. On the Rate-Distortion-Complexity Tradeoff for Semantic Communication

    Feb 16, 2026Jingxuan Chai, Yong Xiao, Guangming ShiSemantic CommunicationRate-Distortion Theory

    the School of Artificial Intelligence at the Xidian University, Shaanxi 710071, China · the School of Electronic Information and Communications at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China · the Pengcheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China +2

  9. Spatiotemporal Semantic V2X Framework for Cooperative Collision Prediction

    Jan 23, 2026Murat Arda Onsu, Poonam Lohan, Burak Kantarci +3Intelligent Transportation SystemsSemantic Communication

    School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. · Nokia Bell Labs, 600 March Road, Kanata, ON K2K 2E6, Canada.

  10. Diffusion-aided Task-oriented Semantic Communications with Model Inversion Attack

    Jun 24, 2025Xuesong Wang, Mo Li, Xingyan Shi +2Semantic CommunicationTask-Oriented Semantic Communication

    School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China

  11. ToDMA: Large Model-Driven Massive Token Communications for Semantic Multiple Access

    May 16, 2025Li Qiao, Mahdi Boloursaz Mashhadi, Zhen Gao +2Semantic Communication

    The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong · 5GIC & 6GIC, Institute for Communication Systems (ICS), University of Surrey, GU2 7XH Guildford, U.K. · Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China +2

  12. Token Communications: A Large Model-Driven Framework for Cross-modal Context-aware Semantic Communications

    Feb 17, 2025Li Qiao, Mahdi Boloursaz Mashhadi, Zhen Gao +3Semantic Communication

    School of Information and Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China · 5GIC & 6GIC, Institute for Communication Systems (ICS), University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom · Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland +1

  13. Take What You Need: Flexible Multi-Task Semantic Communications with Channel Adaptation

    Feb 12, 2025Xiang Chen, Shuying Gan, Chenyuan Feng +2Semantic Communication

    School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, China · EURECOM, Sophia Antipolis, France · Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore

  14. Bridging Neural Networks and Wireless Systems with MIMO-OFDM Semantic Communications

    Jan 28, 2025Hanju Yoo, Dongha Choi, Yonghwi Kim +4Semantic CommunicationWireless Communications

    School of Integrated Technology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, South Korea · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA