Wireless communications empowered by reconfigurable intelligent surfaces: Model-based vs model-free channel estimation

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces(RISs)are lately being attractive for their great potential in future sixth generation wireless communications(6G),which is attributed to their affordable energy consumption and easy integration.However,the large numbers of low-cost reflecting elements comprising RISs impose challenges for channel acquisition in various RIS-based wireless applications,such as RIS-enhanced orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing and multi-user multipleinput multiple-output systems.In this article,we first overview the state-of-the-art RIS hardware architectures designed to assist channel estimation for RIS-empowered wireless communication systems.We also overview existing channel estimation approaches,which are categorized into model-based and model-free techniques,and discuss their advantages and limitations depending on the RIS deployment.Design challenges with RIS-empowered systems in terms of hardware and other parameter limitations are presented,together with future research directions for channel estimation in RIS-based wireless systems,such as RISs with extremely large numbers of elements,multi-hop communications with RISs,and frequency division duplexing for high mobility systems.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communications:Overview of hardware designs,channel models,and estimation techniques

The demanding objectives for the future sixth generation(6G)of wireless communication networks have spurred recent research efforts on novel materials and radio-frequency front-end architectures for wireless connectivity,as well as revolutionary communication and computing paradigms.Among the pioneering candidate technologies for 6G belong the reconfigurable intelligent surfaces(RISs),which are artificial planar structures with integrated electronic circuits that can be programmed to manipulate the incoming electromagnetic field in a wide variety of functionalities.Incorporating RISs in wireless networks have been recently advocated as a revolutionary means to transform any wireless signal propagation environment to a dynamically programmable one,intended for various networking objectives,such as coverage extension and capacity boosting,spatiotemporal focusing with benefits in energy efficiency and secrecy,and low electromagnetic field exposure.Motivated by the recent increasing interests in the field of RISs and the consequent pioneering concept of the RIS-enabled smart wireless environments,in this paper,we overview and taxonomize the latest advances in RIS hardware architectures as well as the most recent developments in the modeling of RIS unit elements and RIS-empowered wireless signal propagation.We also present a thorough overview of the channel estimation approaches for RIS-empowered communications systems,which constitute a prerequisite step for the optimized incorporation of RISs in future wireless networks.Finally,we discuss the relevance of the RIS technology in the latest wireless communication standards,and highlight the current and future standardization activities for the RIS technology and the consequent RIS-empowered wireless networking approaches.