Measurement-Based Validation of Geometry-Driven RIS Beam Steering in Industrial Environments

TL;DR

This study validates the effectiveness of geometry-driven RIS beam steering in industrial environments through real-world measurements, demonstrating its potential for spatial control and localization despite challenging multipath conditions.

Contribution

It provides the first measurement-based validation of geometry-driven RIS beam steering in industrial settings, highlighting its robustness and practical viability.

Findings

Consistent spatially selective focusing observed in measurements.

Steering to offset locations causes 20-30 dB power reduction.

Elevation broadening occurs with increased RIS-receiver distance.

Abstract

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) offer programmable control of radio propagation for future wireless systems. For configuration, geometry-driven analytical approaches are appealing for their simplicity and real-time operation, but their performance in challenging environments such as industrial halls with dense multipath and metallic scattering is not well established. To this end, we present a measurement-based evaluation of geometry-driven RIS beam steering in a large industrial hall using a 5 GHz RIS prototype. A novel RIS configuration is proposed in which four patch antennas are mounted in close proximity in front of the RIS to steer the incident field and enable controlled reflection. For this setup, analytically computed, quantized configurations are implemented. Two-dimensional received power maps from two measurement areas reveal consistent, spatially selective focusing. Configurations optimized near the receiver produce clear power maxima, while steering to offset locations triggers a rapid 20-30 dB reduction. With increasing RIS-receiver distance, elevation selectivity broadens due to finite-aperture and geometric constraints, while azimuth steering remains robust. These results confirm the practical viability of geometry-driven RIS beam steering in industrial environments and support its use for spatial field control and localization under non-ideal propagation.