T3: Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for 6G: From Academic Research to Industry Development

–This tutorial will be presented on the virtual platform only–

Organizer: Linglong Dai, Tsinghua University, China
Organizer: Yifei Yuan, China Mobile Research Institute, China

Abstract: Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has become a promising technology for future 6G wireless communications. Due to its high array gain, low cost, and low power consumption, RIS can improve spectrum efficiency, extend coverage, and reduce power consumption. However, the practical applications of RIS still face many challenges. This tutorial will introduce the latest progress of RIS from perspectives of both academic research and industry development. First, this tutorial will introduce the advanced algorithms for RIS. By considering the physical characteristics of RIS channels including near-field propagation, spatial non-stationarity, ultra-wide broadband effect, etc., we will present the corresponding advanced algorithm designs for RIS channel estimation, beamforming, and beam training. Then, this tutorial will discuss the architecture designs for RIS. Facing the challenges including the multiplicative fading effect and excessive pilot overhead for channel state information acquisition, some new architecture designs of RIS, such as active RIS, sensing RIS, and time-phase adjustable RIS, will be discussed from the viewpoint of joint hardware and software optimization. Subsequently, this tutorial will present the recent system-level simulations of RIS, and the trial test results of RIS in commercial 5G networks. The multi-stage standardization of RIS will also be discussed. Finally, we will review the predecessor technologies of RIS in 4G and 5G (relay and full dimensional MIMO) to predict the development trends of RIS in the future.

 

Linglong Dai

Bio: Linglong Dai (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.S. degree from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, in 2003, the M.S. degree from the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology, Beijing, China, in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, in 2011. From 2011 to 2013, he was a Post-Doctoral Researcher with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, where he was an Assistant Professor from 2013 to 2016, an Associate Professor from 2016 to 2022, and has been a Professor since 2022. His current research interests include massive MIMO, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), millimeter-wave and Terahertz communications, wireless AI, and electromagnetic information theory. He has received the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Outstanding Young Scholars in 2017, the IEEE ComSoc Leonard G. Abraham Prize in 2020, the IEEE ComSoc Stephen O. Rice Prize in 2022, and the IEEE ICC Outstanding Demo Award in 2022. He was listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate from 2020 to 2022. He was elevated as an IEEE Fellow in 2021.

 

Yifei Yuan

Bio: Yifei Yuan (Senior Member, IEEE) received his Bachelor & Master degrees from Tsinghua University of China, and a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He was with Alcatel-Lucent from 2000 to 2008, working on 3G/4G key technologies. From 2008 to 2020, he was with ZTE as technical director and chief engineer responsible for standards research on LTEAdvanced and 5G. Since 2020, he has been with China Mobile Research Institute, responsible for advanced technologies of 6G. His research interests include MIMO, channel coding, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), internet-of-things (IoT), resource scheduling. He has extensive publications, including 6 books on LTE-Advanced and 5G. He is the rapporteur of NOMA study item in 3GPP. He is the recipient of Best Paper Award by IEEE Communications Society Asia-Pacific Board for co-authoring a paper on NOMA in IEEE Communications Magazine.