Work

Perceptive, Resilient, and Efficient Networks: Programming the Wireless Environment with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Wireless communications are nowadays shifting to higher operation frequencies with the aim to meet the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth. While reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are usually envisioned to restore the line-of-sight of blocked links and to efficiently counteract the increased pathloss, their functionalities can extend far beyond these basic operations. Owing to their large surface and the multitude of scatterers, RISs can be exploited to perform advanced wavefront engineering, essentially transforming the incident beam into a non-trivial reflected beam that is able to address the challenges of high frequencies more efficiently than conventional beam-forming. In this paper, it is demonstrated how advanced wavefront engineering with RISs enables beam profiles that are able to focus, bend and self-heal, thus offering functionalities beyond the current state-of-the-art. Their potential as enablers of perceptive, resilient, and efficient networks is discussed, and a localization technique based on a hybrid beam-forming/beam-focusing scheme is demonstrated.

Source: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine

DOI: 10.1109/mvt.2024.3432252

Authors: Giorgos Stratidakis, Sotiris Droulias, Angeliki Alexiou

Institution: University of Piraeus

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Wireless Communication Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,995