Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Future Wireless Networks: A Channel Modeling Perspective

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel channel modeling methodology and software tool for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), demonstrating their potential in future 6G wireless systems and discussing future research directions.

Contribution

It presents the SimRIS Channel Simulator 2.0, a new open-source tool for modeling RIS-empowered millimeter-wave communication systems, highlighting their applicability and future research needs.

Findings

RISs can enhance future wireless communication in specific environments

The SimRIS Channel Simulator 2.0 enables practical modeling of RIS systems

Future research is needed to bridge theory and practical deployment

Abstract

While the researchers have set their sights on future wireless networks of 2030, communications through reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) appears as one of the potential enabling technologies for 6G wireless networking. This article aims to shed light on the potential use-cases of RISs in future wireless systems by means of a novel channel modeling methodology as well as a new software tool for RIS-empowered millimeter-wave communication systems. It is shown by the open-source, user-friendly, and widely applicable SimRIS Channel Simulator, whose 2.0 version is proposed and goes online by this article, that RISs will work under certain use-cases and communication environments. Potential future research directions are also discussed to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of RIS-empowered systems towards their standardization for 6G wireless networks.