Wireless Environment as a Service Enabled by Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: The RISE-6G Perspective

TL;DR

The paper discusses the RISE-6G project which explores how Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces can transform wireless networks into dynamic, programmable environments supporting innovative, sustainable services beyond 5G.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of wireless environment as a service enabled by RIS, including modeling, fundamental limits, and algorithms for RIS-assisted 6G networks.

Findings

Development of realistic RIS-assisted signal propagation models

Investigation of fundamental limits of RIS-empowered communications and sensing

Design of algorithms for orchestrating RISs in wireless networks

Abstract

The design of 6th Generation (6G) wireless networks points towards flexible connect-and-compute technologies capable to support innovative services and use cases. Targeting the 2030 horizon, 6G networks are poised to pave the way for sustainable human-centered smart societies and vertical industries, such that wireless networks will be transformed into a distributed smart connectivity infrastructure, where new terminal types are embedded in the daily environment. In this context, the RISE-6G project aims at investigating innovative solutions that capitalize on the latest advances in the emerging technology of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs), which offers dynamic and goal-oriented radio wave propagation control, enabling the concept of the wireless environment as a service. The project will focus on: i) the realistic modeling of RIS-assisted signal propagation, ii) the investigation of the fundamental limits of RIS-empowered wireless communications and sensing, and iii) the design of efficient algorithms for orchestrating networking RISs, in order to implement intelligent, sustainable, and dynamically programmable wireless environments enabling diverse services that go well beyond the 5G capabilities. RISE-6G will offer two unprecedented proof-of-concepts for realizing controlled wireless environments in near-future use cases.