Guest editorial: reconfigurable intelligent surfaces: design and implementation

Abstract

Beyond-5G and 6G networks aim at providing flexible compute and connect technologies, which may support innovative use cases and unprecedented services by means of a concrete and sustainable transformation of existing network designs into smart-connected telecommunication infrastructures. Such a revolution might include full control of the propagation environment, which is a weak point of legacy communication solutions, that can be empowered by the adoption of a novel technology, namely Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces, which are man-made passive surfaces comprising up to thousands of reconfigurable unit elements. The novel approach of modifying the radio wave propagation can bring extraordinary benefits to how we conceive the wireless connectivity paradigm. This Feature Topic (FT) deeply investigates the taxonomy of such envisioned services, the feasibility of advanced use-cases, as well as specific architectural, protocol and system requirements to build RIS-based networks.