Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) for 6G networks

Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) for 6G networks

6G imposes new challenges on both the infrastructure and the user equipment.
One promising concept for 6G networks is the Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS), or Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS).
The IRS is a synthetically produced meta-surface that can programmatically manipulate the phase of a radio wave reflected from it.
Thus, for the first time, it is possible to optimize the radio channel for various applications by means of an IRS instead of considering it
unchangeably given. This new concept, which besides the optimization of the spectral efficiency during communication, enables many other applications, will therefore be an elementary component in 6G and thus also in 6GEM.

The Chair of Digital Communication Systems at the Ruhr-University has already achieved some results in the field of intelligent surfaces by means of prototypical implementation. The surfaces shown in the figure, were designed for the 5GHz range and are the core of the applications. One application presented is full-duplex communication, where an IRS was used to reduce the self-interference of a node and thus save costly RFcomponents on the user side [1]. In another application, it was sucessfully shown that an IRS can be used to increase privacy at the physical layer [2]. By selectively controlling the IRS, an attacker was hindered from detecting the presence of persons from received WiFi packets.

[1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.12646
[2] https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01967