T5: Holographic Radio: A New Paradigm for Communication and Sensing in 6G

Co-organizer: Boya Di, Peking University, China
Co-organizer: Hongliang Zhang, Peking University, China
Co-organizer: Lingyang Song, Peking University, China

Abstract: Holographic radio, which integrates massive antenna elements into a compact space to achieve ultra-massive MIMO for high resolution sensing and high-capacity communications, has been considered as a promising enabling technique for the forthcoming sixth generation (6G) networks. Widely-utilized phased arrays relying on costly components make the implementation of ultra-massive MIMO in practice become prohibitive from both cost and power consumption perspectives. In contrast, the recent developed reconfigurable holographic surfaces (RHSs) composing of densely packing sub-wavelength meta material elements provide a new method to solve the above issue without costly hardware components. By leveraging the holographic principle, the RHS serves as an ultra-thin and lightweight surface antenna integrated with the transceiver, thereby providing a promising alternative to phased arrays for realizing ultra-massive MIMO. In this tutorial, we will first provide a basic introduction of RHSs. We then introduce the unique features of RHSs which enables both communication and sensing, in a comprehensive way. Related design, analysis, optimization, and signal processing techniques will be presented. Typical RHSbased applications for the wireless communications and radio-frequency sensing will be explored. Our implementation of RHSs as well as the developed prototypes of communication and sensing systems will also be reported. Several up-to-date challenges and potential research directions will be discussed as well.

Co-organizer’s Bios:

Boya Di

Boya Di (S’17-M’19) is an assistant professor at School of Electronics, Peking University. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electronics, Peking University, China, in 2019. Prior to that, she received the B.S. degree in electronic engineering from Peking University in 2014. She was a postdoc researcher at Imperial College London. Her current research interests include holographic radio, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, multi-agent systems, and aerial access networks. She has published over 30 journal papers on the topic of reconfigurable holographic surface aided communications and sensing. She is the recipient of 2021 IEEE ComSoc Asia-Pacific Outstanding Paper Award and 2022 IEEE ComSoc Asia-Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award. She serves as an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology and IEEE Communications Tutorials and Surveys. She has also served as a workshop co-chair for IEEE WCNC 2020&2021 and ISWCS 2022.

Hongliang Zhang

Hongliang Zhang (S’15-M’19) received B.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Peking University, in 2014 and 2019, respectively, where he is currently an assistant professor with School of Electronics. His current research interests include reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, aerial access networks, optimization theory, and game theory. He received the best doctoral thesis award from Chinese Institute of Electronics in 2019. He is also the recipient of 2021 IEEE Comsoc Heinrich Hertz Award for Best Communications Letters and 2021 IEEE ComSoc AsiaPacific Outstanding Paper Award. He has served as a TPC Member and a workshop co-chair for many IEEE conferences. He is the winner of the Outstanding Leadership Award as the publicity chair for IEEE EUC in 2022. He is currently an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, IEEE Communications Letters, IET Communications, and Frontiers in Signal Processing. He has also served as a Guest Editor for several journals, such as IEEE Internet of Things Journal and Journal of Communications and Networks. He is an exemplary reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Communications in 2020.

Lingyang Song

Lingyang Song (S’03-M’06-SM’12-F’19) received his PhD from the University of York, UK, in 2007. He worked as a research fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway until rejoining Philips Research UK in March 2008. In May 2009, he joined the School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, and is now a Boya Distinguished Professor. His main research interests include wireless communications, mobile computing, and machine learning. Dr. Song is the co-author of many awards, including IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize in 2016, IEEE ICC 2014, IEEE ICC 2015, IEEE Globecom 2014, and the best demo award in the ACM Mobihoc 2015. He received National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2017, First Prize in Nature Science Award of Ministry of Education of China in 2017. Dr. Song has served as an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer (2015-2018), an Area Editor of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (2019-), Co-chair of IEEE Communications Society Asia Pacific Board Technical Affairs Committee (2020-). He is a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher.