Wireless Communications with Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

Overview

Abstract

Extensive research has already started on 6G and beyond wireless technologies of 2030 due to the envisioned new use-cases including multisensory augmented/virtual reality applications, wireless brain computer interactions, and fully autonomous systems. Although a plethora of modern physical layer solutions have been introduced in the last few decades with the context of 4G and 5G wireless systems, it is undeniable that a level of saturation has been reached in terms of the available spectrum, adapted modulation/coding solutions and accordingly the maximum throughput as well as achievable reliability. Within this perspective, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-empowered communication appears as a potential candidate to overcome the inherent drawbacks of legacy wireless systems by providing a new degree of freedom in wireless system design. The core idea of RISs is the transformation of the uncontrollable and random wireless propagation environment into a reconfigurable communication system entity that plays an active role in transferring information. The aim of this talk is to introduce the emerging concept of RIS-empowered communications, to discuss the similarities and differences with the existing technologies, to present the state-of-the-art solutions for intelligent communication environments, and to provide a general perspective on the potential of RIS-assisted systems towards 6G wireless networks.

Brief Biography

Ertugrul Basar received the B.S. degree (Hons.) from Istanbul University, Turkey, in 2007, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, in 2009 and 2013, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey and the director of Communications Research and Innovation Laboratory (CoreLab). His primary research interests include MIMO systems, index modulation, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, waveform design, visible light communications, and signal processing for communications. He is the author/co-author of 140 journal and conference publications that received more than 4K citations and holds 6 patents (granted/applied).
Recent recognition of his research includes the IEEE Communications Society Best Young Researcher Award for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Region in 2020, Science Academy (Turkey) Young Scientists (BAGEP) Award in 2018, Turkish Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist (TUBA-GEBIP) Award in 2017, and the first-ever IEEE Turkey Research Encouragement Award in 2017. 
Dr. Basar currently serves as a Senior Editor of the IEEE Communications Letters and an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Communications and Frontiers in Communications and Networks. He is a Senior Member of IEEE.