Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper)
The demanding objectives for the future sixth generation (6G) of wireless communication networks have spurred recent research efforts on novel materials and radio-frequency front-end architectures for wireless connectivity, as well as revolutionary communication and computing paradigms. Among the pi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Tsinghua University Press
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Intelligent and Converged Networks |
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| Online Access: | https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/ICN.2022.0005 |
| _version_ | 1811250906244579328 |
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| author | Mengnan Jian George C. Alexandropoulos Ertugrul Basar Chongwen Huang Ruiqi Liu Yuanwei Liu Chau Yuen |
| author_facet | Mengnan Jian George C. Alexandropoulos Ertugrul Basar Chongwen Huang Ruiqi Liu Yuanwei Liu Chau Yuen |
| author_sort | Mengnan Jian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The demanding objectives for the future sixth generation (6G) of wireless communication networks have spurred recent research efforts on novel materials and radio-frequency front-end architectures for wireless connectivity, as well as revolutionary communication and computing paradigms. Among the pioneering candidate technologies for 6G belong the reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), which are artificial planar structures with integrated electronic circuits that can be programmed to manipulate the incoming electromagnetic field in a wide variety of functionalities. Incorporating RISs in wireless networks have been recently advocated as a revolutionary means to transform any wireless signal propagation environment to a dynamically programmable one, intended for various networking objectives, such as coverage extension and capacity boosting, spatiotemporal focusing with benefits in energy efficiency and secrecy, and low electromagnetic field exposure. Motivated by the recent increasing interests in the field of RISs and the consequent pioneering concept of the RIS-enabled smart wireless environments, in this paper, we overview and taxonomize the latest advances in RIS hardware architectures as well as the most recent developments in the modeling of RIS unit elements and RIS-empowered wireless signal propagation. We also present a thorough overview of the channel estimation approaches for RIS-empowered communications systems, which constitute a prerequisite step for the optimized incorporation of RISs in future wireless networks. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the RIS technology in the latest wireless communication standards, and highlight the current and future standardization activities for the RIS technology and the consequent RIS-empowered wireless networking approaches. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:11:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50dcafbf325547d5a548306a2202feb5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2708-6240 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:11:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Tsinghua University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Intelligent and Converged Networks |
| spelling | doaj.art-50dcafbf325547d5a548306a2202feb52022-12-22T03:25:52ZengTsinghua University PressIntelligent and Converged Networks2708-62402022-03-013113210.23919/ICN.2022.0005Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper)Mengnan Jian0George C. Alexandropoulos1Ertugrul Basar2Chongwen Huang3Ruiqi Liu4Yuanwei Liu5Chau Yuen6Wireless Research Institute, ZTE Corporation, Beijing 100029, China, and also with the State Key Laboratory of Mobile Network and Mobile Multimedia Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaDepartment of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15784, GreeceCommunications Research and Innovation Laboratory (CoreLab), Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koç University, Istanbul 34450, TurkeyCollege of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaWireless Research Institute, ZTE Corporation, Beijing 100029, China, and also with the State Key Laboratory of Mobile Network and Mobile Multimedia Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, UKEngineering Product Development (EPD) Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372, SingaporeThe demanding objectives for the future sixth generation (6G) of wireless communication networks have spurred recent research efforts on novel materials and radio-frequency front-end architectures for wireless connectivity, as well as revolutionary communication and computing paradigms. Among the pioneering candidate technologies for 6G belong the reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), which are artificial planar structures with integrated electronic circuits that can be programmed to manipulate the incoming electromagnetic field in a wide variety of functionalities. Incorporating RISs in wireless networks have been recently advocated as a revolutionary means to transform any wireless signal propagation environment to a dynamically programmable one, intended for various networking objectives, such as coverage extension and capacity boosting, spatiotemporal focusing with benefits in energy efficiency and secrecy, and low electromagnetic field exposure. Motivated by the recent increasing interests in the field of RISs and the consequent pioneering concept of the RIS-enabled smart wireless environments, in this paper, we overview and taxonomize the latest advances in RIS hardware architectures as well as the most recent developments in the modeling of RIS unit elements and RIS-empowered wireless signal propagation. We also present a thorough overview of the channel estimation approaches for RIS-empowered communications systems, which constitute a prerequisite step for the optimized incorporation of RISs in future wireless networks. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the RIS technology in the latest wireless communication standards, and highlight the current and future standardization activities for the RIS technology and the consequent RIS-empowered wireless networking approaches.https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/ICN.2022.0005reconfigurable intelligent surfacesbeyond 5g6gchannel modelinghardware architecturechannel estimationsmart wireless environmentstandardization |
| spellingShingle | Mengnan Jian George C. Alexandropoulos Ertugrul Basar Chongwen Huang Ruiqi Liu Yuanwei Liu Chau Yuen Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) Intelligent and Converged Networks reconfigurable intelligent surfaces beyond 5g 6g channel modeling hardware architecture channel estimation smart wireless environment standardization |
| title | Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) |
| title_full | Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) |
| title_fullStr | Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) |
| title_short | Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications: Overview of hardware designs, channel models, and estimation techniques(invited paper) |
| title_sort | reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications overview of hardware designs channel models and estimation techniques invited paper |
| topic | reconfigurable intelligent surfaces beyond 5g 6g channel modeling hardware architecture channel estimation smart wireless environment standardization |
| url | https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.23919/ICN.2022.0005 |
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