Reconfigurable Holographic Surface: A New Paradigm to Implement Holographic Radio

TL;DR

This paper introduces a reconfigurable holographic surface (RHS) for ultra-massive MIMO in 6G, enabling high-gain, low-cost beamforming through metasurface technology, supported by simulations and experiments.

Contribution

It presents a novel RHS design using tunable metamaterials for holographic beamforming, demonstrating its feasibility for high-directivity, low-cost 6G radio systems.

Findings

RHS achieves high directive gain in limited size

Full-wave analysis confirms RHS capabilities

Experimental results validate RHS performance

Abstract

Ultra-massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is one of the key enablers in the forthcoming 6G networks to provide high-speed data services by exploiting spatial diversity. In this article, we consider a new paradigm termed holographic radio for ultra-massive MIMO, where numerous tiny and inexpensive antenna elements are integrated to realize high directive gain with low hardware cost. We propose a practical way to enable holographic radio by a novel metasurface-based antenna, i.e., reconfigurable holographic surface (RHS). Specifically, RHSs incorporating densely packed tunable metamaterial elements are capable of holographic beamforming. Based on the working principle and hardware design of RHSs, we conduct full-wave analyses of RHSs and build an RHS-aided point-to-point communication platform supporting real-time data transmission. Both simulated and experimental results show that the RHS has great potential to achieve high directive gain with a limited size, thereby substantiating the feasibility of RHS-enabled holographic radio. Moreover, future research directions for RHS-enabled holographic radio are also discussed.