Irish and Scottish Universities Team Up on Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

In pursuit of next-generation wireless communications, researchers from Ireland and Glasgow in the United Kingdom are collaborating to develop “smart” materials that will support the evolution of 6G and other advanced communications networks. Researchers from the University of Glasgow are teaming with engineers from the Tyndall National Institute’s Wireless Communications Laboratory (WCL) based in the University College Cork to develop smart materials as part of the active reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) for 6G wireless communications (AR-COM) project (see figure).

It's hoped that these RIS will enable significant improvements in performance in 6G wireless networks compared to earlier 5G systems. The materials are intended, for example, as reflecting surfaces to capture low-level signals and in higher-frequency circuits operating at millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies to provide additional wireless signal bandwidths. 

Professor Qammer H. Abbasi, Director of the University of Glasgow’s Communications, Sensing and Imaging (CSI) hub at Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering, is the AR-COMS project’s principal investigator. He said, “Current materials used in wireless communications face significant limitations, especially at the higher frequencies that 6G networks will require. With AR-COM, we’re building on the expertise of the University of Glasgow and the Tyndall Institute with the support of key industry partners to develop truly next-generation technologies.”

Dr. Senad Bulja, who will lead Tyndall National Institute’s contribution to AR-COM, added, “Resonant tunneling diodes, which can amplify signals while using very little power, and transition metal oxides which can act as ultra-fast switches, have a great deal of potential to help overcome the bottlenecks of current generations of IRS technologies. Together, these technologies will help us create surfaces that not only redirect signals but also boost them with minimal energy consumption, which will help them find use in a wide range of devices in the years to come.”