W18: RISs and Their Variants for Intelligent 6G Communication and Sensing
Co-Organizer: Jiguang He, Great Bay University, China
Co-Organizer: Guofa Cai, Guangdong University of Technology, China
Co-Organizer: Chongwen Huang, Zhejiang University, China
Co-Organizer: Georges Kaddoum, University of Quebec, Canada
Co-Organizer: Chau Yuen, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Abstract: Future wireless networks are evolving into intelligent and reconfigurable platforms that seamlessly integrate communication and sensing. Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) and their advanced variants, including holographic MIMO (HMIMO), simultaneous transmitting and reflecting RIS (STAR-RIS), and flexible intelligent metasurfaces (FIMs), have emerged as key enablers of nextgeneration wireless networks. These technologies dynamically manipulate electromagnetic wave propagation, enhancing coverage, energy efficiency, and sensing capabilities. This workshop brings together researchers and industry experts to explore the latest advances in RIS/HMIMO/STAR-RIS/FIM-empowered networks, addressing fundamental challenges and practical implementations. Topics include ISAC with RISs, electromagnetic information theory, channel modeling and estimation, flexible antenna design, AI-driven optimization, radio positioning, NOMA, and near-field sensing. The workshop will also discuss applications in UAV networks, beyond-5G verticals, and hardware testbeds, as well as security and privacy concerns. Through technical sessions and keynote talks from leading experts, this event aims to foster collaboration and drive innovation in RIS/HMIMO/STAR-RIS/FIM technologies for 6G. Participants will gain insights into cutting-edge research and emerging trends, contributing to the future of intelligent wireless systems.
Program:
Sunday, 19 October 2025 9:00 – 12:30 Shu Feng
Opening: Jiguang He, Great Bay University, China
Keynote: Simultaneously Transmitting and Reflecting Surfaces (STARS) for 6G, Xidong Mu, Queen’s University Belfast
1. An Evolution-Guided Policy Gradient Approach for RIS-Enhanced Communication Systems
Ke Zhao, Zhiqun Song, Yong Li, Xingjian Li, CETC-54; Lizhe Liu, National Key Laboratory of Advanced Communication Networks; Bin Wang, CETC-54
2. Improved Channel Estimation for Wavenumber-Domain Holographic MIMO Utilizing Reduced Search Space and Block-Sparsity
Fei Wang, Jianping Zheng, Xidian University
3. On-Off Backscatter: An On-Off RIS-Enabled Symbiotic Backscatter NOMA System
Mingkai Chen, Haiyang Ding, Shilian Wang, Xiaoyi Huang, National University of Defense Technology; Dong li, University of Science and Technology; Maged Elkashlan, Queen Mary University of London; Jules M. Moualeu, University of the Witwatersrand; Chau Yuen, Nanyang Technological University
4. RIS-Assisted Delay-Synchronized Cell-Free mmWave ISAC for Drone Detection
Haojie Wang, Shaochuan Wu, Harbin Institute of Technology; Jiguang He, Great Bay University; Yifei Fan, Mingjun Sun, Harbin Institute of Technology
5. Wireless Gesture Recognition Based on Multi-cell Cellular Signals
Zhengye Chen, Shidong Liu, Yafei Tian, Beihang University
Virtual Papers
1. Transformer-Integrated DDPG for 3D Deployment in RIS-Assisted Obstructed Networks
Jing Jiang, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications; Chenjing Zhang, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications
2. Transmit Beamforming Design for RIS and NOMA Assisted Wireless Caching Systems
Xuewei Zhang, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications; Yapeng Zhang, Yuan Ren, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications; Fan Jiang, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications; Junxuan Wang, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications
Co-Organizer’s Bios:
Jiguang He
Prof. Jiguang He received his Ph.D. in Communications Engineering from the University of Oulu, Finland, in 2018. He serves currently as an Associate Professor at Great Bay University in Dongguan, Great Bay Area, China, and holds a Docentship (a.k.s adjunct professor) at the University of Oulu. From September 2013 to March 2015, he was affiliated with the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves at City University of Hong Kong. Subsequently, from June 2015 to August 2021, he was associated with the Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) at the University of Oulu, initially as a doctoral researcher and later as a postdoctoral researcher. He served as an Assistant Professor at Macau University of Science and Technology from August 2021 to March 2022 and a Senior Researcher at Technology Innovation Institute from March 2022 to August 2024. He has actively contributed to numerous international and national projects, including EU FP7 RESCUE, EU H2020 ARIADNE, and the 6G Flagship, and received one FDCT-GDST joint research project from Macau Science and Technology Development Fund. He is recognized as an Exemplary Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Communications and IEEE Communications Letters, and he serves as a Technical Program Committee (TPC) member for various IEEE conferences. Currently, he serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. He received the Best Paper Award from IEEE ICCT 2023 and IEEE ICC workshop 2024. His research interests span integrated sensing and communications, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, mmWave/THz communications, and AI for communications and networking.
Guofa Cai
Prof. Guofa Cai received the B.S. degree in communication engineering from Jimei University, Xiamen, China, in 2007, the M.S. degree in circuits and systems from Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in communication engineering from Xiamen University, Xiamen, China, in 2015. In 2017, he was a Research Fellow with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is currently a Full Professor with the School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. His main research interests include information theory and coding, spread-spectrum modulation, wireless body area networks, and Internet of Things.
Chongwen Huang
Prof. Chongwen Huang obtained his B.Sc. degree in 2010 from Nankai University, and the M.Sc degree from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2013, and PhD degree from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) in 2019. From Oct. 2019 to Sep. 2020, he is a Postdoc in SUTD. Since Sep. 2020, he joined into Zhejiang University as a tenure-track young professor. Dr. Huang is the recipient of 2021 IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award, 2023 IEEE Fred W. Ellersick Prize Paper Award and 2021 IEEE ComSoc Asia-Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award. He has served as an Editor of IEEE Communications Letter, Elsevier Signal Processing, EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking and Physical
Communication since 2021. His main research interests are focused on Holographic MIMO Surface/Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface, B5G/6G Wireless Communications, mmWave/THz
Communications, Deep Learning technologies for Wireless communications, etc.
Georges Kaddoum
Prof. Georges Kaddoum received the bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA Bretagne), Brest, France, the M.S. degree in telecommunications and signal processing (circuits, systems, and signal processing) from the Université de Bretagne Occidentale and Telecom Bretagne (ENSTB), Brest, in 2005, and the Ph.D.
degree (High Hons.) in signal processing and telecommunications from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA), University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France, in 2009. He is currently a Professor, research Director of the Resilient Machine Learning Institute (ReMI), Industrial Research Chair and the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair of the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Université du Québec, Montréal, QC, Canada. He has authored or coauthored more than 300 journals, conference papers, two chapters in books, and has eight pending patents. His research interests include wireless communication networks, tactical communications, resource allocations, and network security. He was the recipient of the best papers awards at the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking, Communications (WIMOB), 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Personal Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), and 2023 IEEE International Wireless Communications & Mobile Computing Conference (IWCMC). He was the recipient of the IEEE Transactions on Communications Exemplary Reviewer Award, in 2015, 2017, and 2019, and Research Excellence Award of the Université du Québec, in 2018. In 2019, he received the Research Excellence Award from ÉTS in recognition of his outstanding research outcomes. He also won the 2022 IEEE Technical Committee on Scalable Computing (TCSC) Award for Excellence (Middle Career Researcher). He was also the recipient of the the prestigious 2023 MITACS Award for Exceptional Leadership. He was an Associate Editor for IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION FORENSICS AND SECURITY and IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS. He is an Area Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MACHINE LEARNING IN COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING, and Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS.
Chau Yuen
Chau Yuen received the B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2000 and 2004, respectively. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with Lucent Technologies Bell Labs, Murray Hill, in 2005. From 2006 to 2010, he was with the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore. From 2010 to 2023, he was with the Engineering Product Development Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design. Since 2023, he has been with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, currently he is Provost’s Chair in Wireless Communications, and Assistant Dean in Graduate College. Dr. Yuen received IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize (2024), IEEE Communications Society Best Tutorial Paper Award (2024), IEEE Communications Society Fred W. Ellersick Prize (2023), IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in Wireless Communications (2021), IEEE APB Outstanding Paper Award (2023), and EURASIP Best Paper Award for JOURNAL ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING (2021). Dr. Yuen current serves as an Editor-in-Chief for Springer Nature Computer Science, Editor for IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, IEEE SYSTEM JOURNAL, and IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NETWORK SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, where he was awarded as IEEE TNSE Excellent Editor Award and Top Associate Editor for TVT from 2009 to 2015. He also served as the guest editor for several special issues, including IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, IEEE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE, IEEE COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE, IEEE VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COGNITIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING, and ELSEVIER APPLIED ENERGY. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University, and also a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Web of Science. He has 4 US patents and published over 400 research papers at international journals.