With 5G networks being rolled out this year, new and more stringent performance requirements are expected of beyond 5G wireless networks, which will have to provide very high data-rates, as well as other heterogeneous services, such as sensing, localization, low-latency and ultra-reliable communications. In order to achieve these challenging goals, a promising approach lies in integrating reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), also known as intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) into the architecture of future wireless communication networks. RISs are thin layers of meta-materials which can be designed to have specific electromagnetic properties. RISs can be used to coat environmental objects, thus enabling to customize the propagation properties of the communication environment. This potentially yields a huge increase of the degrees of freedom that can be exploited for system performance optimization, provided the challenges related to the incorporation of RIS into wireless networks can be overcome.
This workshop is expected to bring together academic and industrial researchers in an effort to identify and discuss the major technical challenges and recent breakthroughs related to IRS. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- Fundamental theory for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Transceiver optimization for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Resource Allocation for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Channel measurement and modeling for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Artificial intelligence (AI) for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Prototypes and test-beds for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Security in RIS/IRS-based communications
- Software-defined design and implementation for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Indoor/outdoor localization for RIS/IRS-based communications
- Distributed deployment and network planning of RIS/IRS-based communications
- Integration of RIS/IRS with state-of-the-art wireless technologies (e.g., small cells, Massive MIMO, millimeter-wave communications, visible light communications, THz communication, IoT, drones-aided communications, energy harvesting, etc.)
The workshop accepts only novel and previously unpublished English-written papers, with a maximum length of six (6) printed pages (10-point font) including figures without incurring additional page charges (maximum 1 additional page with over-length page charge if accepted).
