Adaptive Functionality and Programmable Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Enabling Arbitrary Polarization Conversion and Beamforming for IoT Devices

초록

Adaptive, functional, and reconfigurable devices that can manipulate incoming electromagnetic (EM) waves of arbitrary polarization into any desired output polarization are essential for advancing a wide range of Internet of Things (IoT)-related applications, including smart wireless communications, radar, imaging, and sensing systems. Achieving this functionality requires precise control over both the amplitude and phase of co-polarized and cross-polarized components—a task that presents significant challenges. In this work, we present a novel electrically Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) capable of controlling all three fundamental EM wave properties: amplitude, phase, and polarization (encompassing both co- and cross-polarized components). The RIS leverages a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to enable real-time, on-demand reconfiguration of its EM response. By employing far-field optimization techniques to determine the required amplitude and phase distributions for both polarization components, we demonstrate—through proof-of-principle applications—the RIS’s ability to dynamically steer beams, shape wavefronts, and arbitrarily transform polarization states. This advancement underscores the RIS’s potential as a transformative component for next-generation wireless systems, imaging technologies, and information processing applications, offering significant improvements in both performance and functionality across diverse fields.

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