EMF-Efficient MU-MIMO Networks: Harnessing Aerial RIS Technology

TL;DR

This paper introduces an aerial RIS-assisted MU-MIMO system designed to reduce electromagnetic field exposure in 5G networks by optimizing system parameters, showing significant EMF reduction compared to existing schemes.

Contribution

It proposes a novel EMF-aware architecture with UAV-mounted RIS for uplink communication, optimizing multiple parameters to minimize EMF exposure.

Findings

Achieves over 30% EMF reduction compared to fixed ARIS schemes.

Achieves over 90% EMF reduction compared to non-ARIS schemes.

Demonstrates effectiveness of EMF-aware transmission in numerical simulations.

Abstract

The rollout of the fifth-generation (5G) networks has raised some concerns about potential health effects from increased exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). To address these concerns, we design a novel EMF-aware architecture for uplink communications. Specifically, we propose an aerial reconfigurable intelligent surface (ARIS) assisted multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, where the ARIS features a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) panel mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), offering a flexible and adaptive solution for reducing uplink EMF exposure. We formulate and solve a new problem to minimize the EMF exposure by optimizing the system parameters, such as transmit beamforming, resource allocation, transmit power, ARIS phase shifts, and ARIS trajectory. Our numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of EMF-aware transmission scheme over the benchmark methods, achieving EMF reductions of over 30% and 90% compared to the fixed ARIS and non-ARIS schemes, respectively.