Ultra Wide Band THz IRS Communications: Applications, Challenges, Key Techniques, and Research Opportunities

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of intelligent reflecting surfaces to enhance ultra-wideband Terahertz communications, addressing challenges like signal attenuation and blockage, and proposes key techniques with simulation results demonstrating improved performance.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive investigation of UWB THz IRS communication, proposing novel techniques such as delay hybrid precoding and IRS deployment, and evaluates their effectiveness through simulations.

Findings

Proposed key techniques improve system performance.

Simulation results validate effectiveness of the techniques.

Identified open issues and future research directions.

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) communication is a promising technology for future wireless networks due to its ultra-wide bandwidth. However, THz signals suffer from severe attenuation and poor diffraction capability, making it vulnerable to blocking obstacles. To compensate for these two shortcomings and improve the system performance, an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) can be exploited to change the propagation direction and enhance the signal strength. In this article, we investigate this promising ultra wide band (UWB) THz IRS communication paradigm. We start by motivating our research and describing several potential application scenarios. Then, we identify major challenges faced by UWB THz IRS communications. To overcome these challenges, several effective key techniques are developed, i.e., the time delayer-based sparse radio frequency antenna structure, delay hybrid precoding and IRS deployment. Simulation results are also presented to compare the system performance for these proposed techniques, thus demonstrating their effectiveness. Finally, we highlight several open issues and research opportunities for UWB THz IRS communications.