English

X-REFINE: XAI-based RElevance input-Filtering and archItecture fiNe-tuning for channel Estimation

Machine Learning 2026-02-27 v1 Signal Processing

Abstract

AI-native architectures are vital for 6G wireless communications. The black-box nature and high complexity of deep learning models employed in critical applications, such as channel estimation, limit their practical deployment. While perturbation-based XAI solutions offer input filtering, they often neglect internal structural optimization. We propose X-REFINE, an XAI-based framework for joint input-filtering and architecture fine-tuning. By utilizing a decomposition-based, sign-stabilized LRP epsilon rule, X-REFINE backpropagates predictions to derive high-resolution relevance scores for both subcarriers and hidden neurons. This enables a holistic optimization that identifies the most faithful model components. Simulation results demonstrate that X-REFINE achieves a superior interpretability-performance-complexity trade-off, significantly reducing computational complexity while maintaining robust bit error rate (BER) performance across different scenarios.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.22277,
  title  = {X-REFINE: XAI-based RElevance input-Filtering and archItecture fiNe-tuning for channel Estimation},
  author = {Abdul Karim Gizzini and Yahia Medjahdi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.22277},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

This paper has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (TVT) as a correspondence paper

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:52:42.623Z