Affiliation of Author(s):[1]Univ Elect Sci & Technol China UESTC, Chengdu 611731, Peoples R China;[2]Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Shanghai 200240, Peoples R China
Journal:CHINA COMMUNICATIONS
Key Words:terahertz (THz) communications; intelligent reflecting surface (IRS); sixth generation (6G); application scenarios; enabling technologies; emerging challenges
Abstract:Terahertz (THz) communications have been widely envisioned as a promising enabler to provide adequate bandwidth and achieve ultra-high data rates for sixth generation (6G) wireless networks. In order to mitigate blockage vulnerability caused by serious propagation attenuation and poor diffraction of THz waves, an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), which manipulates the propagation of incident electromagnetic waves in a programmable manner by adjusting the phase shifts of passive reflecting elements, is proposed to create smart radio environments, improve spectrum efficiency and enhance coverage capability. Firstly, some prospective application scenarios driven by the IRS empowered THz communications are introduced, including wireless mobile communications, secure communications, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) scenario, mobile edge computing (MEC) scenario and THz localization scenario. Then, we discuss the enabling technologies employed by the IRS empowered THz system, involving hardware design, channel estimation, capacity optimization, beam control, resource allocation and robustness design. Moreover, the arising challenges and open problems encountered in the future IRS empowered THz communications are also highlighted. Concretely, these emerging problems possibly originate from channel modeling, new material exploration, experimental IRS testbeds and intensive deployment. Ultimately, the combination of THz communications and IRS is capable of accelerating the development of 6G wireless networks.
Document Type:Article
Volume:18
Issue:5
Page Number:93-119
ISSN No.:1673-5447
Translation or Not:no