Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for the Connectivity of Autonomous Vehicles

TL;DR

This paper proposes the use of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) to enhance vehicle-to-everything communication reliability for autonomous vehicles, optimizing their placement to combat high path loss in next-generation wireless networks.

Contribution

It introduces a method for optimally placing RIS units considering their sizes and modes, tailored for highway deployment to improve autonomous vehicle connectivity.

Findings

RIS placement depends on transmitter and receiver locations

Proposed deployment combats high path loss at millimeter-wave frequencies

Supports existing base station plans for reliable autonomous vehicle communication

Abstract

The use of real-time software-controlled reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) units is proposed to increase the reliability of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. The optimum placement problem of the RIS units is formulated by considering their sizes and operating modes. The solution of the problem is given, where it is shown that the placement of the RIS depends on the locations of the transmitter and the receiver. The proposed RIS-supported highway deployment can combat the high path loss experienced by the use of higher frequency bands, including the millimeter-wave and the terahertz bands, that are expected to be used in the next-generation wireless networks, enabling the use of the existing base station deployment plans to remain operational, while providing reliable and energy-efficient connectivity for autonomous vehicles.