Circuit Characterization of IRS to Control Beamforming Design for Efficient Wireless Communication

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new circuit model for IRS that accurately relates electrical parameters to control phase shift and reflection amplitude, enhancing beamforming design for wireless communication.

Contribution

A novel circuit characterization model for IRS that links electrical parameters to control variables, improving beamforming design accuracy.

Findings

Closed-form expressions for PS, RA, and C in terms of frequency and circuit parameters

Numerical validation shows improved beamforming design insights

Enhanced analytical model for IRS circuit behavior

Abstract

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has emerged as a transforming solution to enrich wireless communications by efficiently reconfiguring the propagation environment. In this paper, a novel IRS circuit characterization model is proposed for practical beamforming design incorporating various electrical parameters of the meta-surface unit cell. Specifically, we have modelled the IRS control parameters, phase shift (PS) and reflection amplitude (RA) at the communication receiver, in addition to the circuit level parameter, variable effective capacitance $C$ of IRS unit cell. We have obtained closed-form expressions of PS, RA and $C$ in terms of transmission frequency of signal incident to IRS and various electrical parameters of IRS circuit, with a novel touch towards an accurate analytical model for a better beamforming design perspective. Numerical results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed characterization thereby providing key design insights.