Channel Modeling in RIS-Empowered Wireless Communications

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in channel modeling for RIS-empowered wireless systems, emphasizing the importance of accurate models validated by real-world measurements for future network deployment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current channel modeling strategies for RIS-enabled systems and highlights open-source and standard-compliant modeling efforts.

Findings

Survey of recent RIS channel modeling research

Identification of open-source modeling tools

Discussion of practical use-cases for RIS in wireless networks

Abstract

One of the most critical aspects of enabling next-generation wireless technologies is developing an accurate and consistent channel model to be validated effectively with the help of real-world measurements. From this point of view, remarkable research has recently been conducted to model propagation channels involving the modification of the wireless propagation environment through the inclusion of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs). This study mainly aims to present a vision on channel modeling strategies for the RIS-empowered communications systems considering the state-of-the-art channel and propagation modeling efforts in the literature. Moreover, it is also desired to draw attention to open-source and standard-compliant physical channel modeling efforts to provide comprehensive insights regarding the practical use-cases of RISs in future wireless networks.