Intelligent Reflecting Surface Research Articles

NOMA communication system assisted with IRS and relay transmission

Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRS) have revolutionized wireless communication systems through their adaptive reconfiguration of the radio propagation environment. This paper compares an IRS-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system and a relay-assisted NOMA system. The investigation delves into the impact of the number of IRS elements on the performance of a two-user NOMA system. A dynamic power allocation scheme is proposed based on the number of IRS elements. Specifically, analytical investigations reveal the range, upper, and lower bounds of power allocation coefficients. The asymptotic values of these bounds are also determined. Furthermore, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize the sum-rate while considering individual minimum rate constraints. The minimum number of passive reflecting elements required by the IRS is determined to meet the minimum target data rates for both users. Analytical calculations determine the optimal number of IRS elements, minimizing total power consumption. Simulation results confirm the superiority of the IRS over the decode-and-forward relay approach.

Securing Medical Sensor Data: A Novel Uplink Scheme With Rate Splitting and Active Intelligent Reflecting Surface

Securing Medical Sensor Data: A Novel Uplink Scheme With Rate Splitting and Active Intelligent Reflecting Surface

Intelligent Reflecting Surface Enabled Integrated Sensing, Communication and Computation

Intelligent Reflecting Surface Enabled Integrated Sensing, Communication and Computation

Optical Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted MIMO VLC: Channel Modeling and Capacity Characterization

Optical Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted MIMO VLC: Channel Modeling and Capacity Characterization

Joint Optimization of Transmission and Computing Resource in Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Assisted Mobile-Edge Computing System

Joint Optimization of Transmission and Computing Resource in Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Assisted Mobile-Edge Computing System

Eavesdropping with intelligent reflective surfaces: Near-optimal configuration cycling

Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) have several prominent advantages, including improving the level of wireless communication security and privacy. In this work, we focus on the latter aspect and introduce a strategy to counteract the presence of passive eavesdroppers overhearing transmissions from a base station towards legitimate users that are facilitated by the presence of IRSs. Specifically, we envision a transmission scheme that cycles across a number of IRS-to-user assignments, and we select them in a near-optimal fashion, thus guaranteeing both a high data rate and a good secrecy rate. Unlike most of the existing works addressing passive eavesdropping, the strategy we envision has low complexity and is suitable for scenarios where nodes are equipped with a limited number of antennas. Through our performance evaluation, we highlight the trade-off between the legitimate users’ data rate and secrecy rate, and how the system parameters affect such a trade-off.

Joint wireless resource allocation and bitrate adaptation for QoE improvement in IRS-aided RSMA-enabled IoMT streaming systems

In the context of the increasing demand for Internet of Multimedia Things (IoMT) services, rate splitting multiple access (RSMA) and intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) technologies have been considered potential networking enablers to provide ultra-throughput wireless access. However, challenges arise due to the heterogeneity of IoMT devices and arbitrary network quality changes, resulting in unwanted service quality fluctuations and downgradation. This study addresses this problem by jointly optimizing wireless resource allocation and bitrate adaptation with Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL)-based QoE management for IRS-aided RSMA-enabled IoMT streaming systems. We formulated the problem as a Markov decision process (MDP) and apply Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) method to flexibly adjust IoMT bitrate, transmission beamforming, IRS phase shift, and RSMA parameters. As a result, our algorithm mitigates overestimation of client-side bandwidth, leading to smoother playback and reduced quality fluctuations. Simulations show that our approach outperforms baseline methods in terms of video resolution (up to 2.5 times) and achievable sum-rate (up to 50%), contributing to a superior streaming experience in IoMT systems.

Intelligent Reflecting Surface Framework for ED Based Spectrum Sensing

According to a recent study, adding intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) to propagation environments improves the performance of wireless devices. The capabilities of cognitive radio’s spectrum sensing over environments with assisted wireless propagation via IRS are examined in this research. Taking channel fading effects into consideration, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the average probability of detection (APD) for single user and cooperative users. Further, the derived APD expression is used to derive the average area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\overline{AUC}}$$\\end{document}) expression. Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out in order to validate the derived expressions. Results demonstarte the extent of detectability performance in cognitive radio on utilizing the IRS aided wireless propagation environment therefore witnessing its significance for upcoming wireless technological advancement by offering spectrum efficiency with good quality of service (QoS).

Optimization of Intelligent-Reflecting-Surface-Enabled Covert Communication in Multi-Sensor Systems

This study investigates covert communication in multi-sensor systems employing Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRSs). Different from previous works, we focus on optimizing transmission amplitudes and phase angles for a 2-BPSK codebook in the presence of asymmetric noise over complex Gaussian channels. We adopt KL divergence as a covertness constraint and mutual information as a metric for transmission rate. We employ Taylor series expansion to approximate KL divergence and mutual information. Leveraging these approximations, we derive optimal phase angles through a proposed gradient descent algorithm. The numerical simulations validate the effectiveness and precision of our Taylor approximation method. Through validation in different scenarios, our algorithm demonstrates robust convergence, deriving all optimal phase angles. Comparing initial phase angles from prior works to those obtained via our algorithm, we observe a higher covert transmission rate.

Performance Comparison of IRS-Assisted SSK Modulation Over Rayleigh and Nakagami-m Fading Channels

To meet the needs of society, the next generation of communication systems will have to learn to juggle multiple responsibilities effectively. This is leading to exponential growth in both circuit complexity and error rates. It is possible to solve these issues by using the intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-Assisted space shift keying (SSK) modulation technique. IRS is a cutting-edge technology that shows promise for future networks due to its low mistake rates and low-energy consumption. Similarly, SSK modulation is favored due to its preference for simpler hardware. Therefore, integrating IRS with SSK is preferable for minimizing both error rates and circuit complexity. In this article, a new framework is developed to characterize the average bit error rate (ABER) with the help of the moment generating function (MGF) over Nakagami-m fading channels. The ABER is derived by factoring the direct path and IRS reflected path at the receiver and also comparing the performance analysis over the Rayleigh fading channel. The analytical results are validated through Monte-Carlo simulations.

Sum Rate Optimization for Multi-IRS-Aided Multi-BS Communication System Based on Multi-Agent

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a revolutionizing technology for improving the spectral and energy efficiency of future wireless networks. In this paper, we consider a downlink large-scale system empowered by multi-IRS to aid communication between the multiple base stations (BSs) and multiple user equipment (UEs). We target maximizing the sum rate by jointly optimizing the UE association, the transmit powers of BSs, and the configurations of the IRS beamforming. Due to the applicability restrictions of conventional optimization methods and their high complexity with large-scale networks in dynamic environments, deep reinforcement (DRL) learning is adopted as an alternative approach to finding optimal solutions. First, we model the optimization problem as a multi-agent Markov decision problem (MAMDP). Then, because large-scale wireless networks are naturally complex and changeable, and because many entities interact and affect how the whole system works, it is important to use a multi-agent approach to understand the complex dependencies and relationships between the different parts. In order to solve the problem, we propose a cooperative multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL)-based algorithm that works for both continuous and discrete IRS phase shifts. Simulation results validate that the proposed algorithm surpasses iterative optimization benchmarks regarding both sum rate performance and convergence.

Intelligent Reflecting Surface Aided MIMO With Cascaded LoS Links: Channel Modeling and Full Multiplexing Region

In this paper, we build up a new intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) aided multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel model, named the cascaded LoS MIMO channel, that is applicable to both near-field and far-field scenarios. The proposed channel model consists of a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx) both equipped with uniform linear arrays (ULAs), and an IRS is used to enable communications between the transmitter and the receiver through the line-of-sight (LoS) links seen by the IRS. When modeling the reflection of electromagnetic waves at the IRS, we take into account the curvature of the wavefront on different reflecting elements. Based on the established channel model, we show that an IRS-assisted MIMO channel is able to support spatial multiplexing solely by the cascaded LoS links. We generalize the notion of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Rayleigh distance</i> originally coined for the single-hop MIMO channel to <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">full multiplexing region (FMR)</i> for the cascaded LoS MIMO channel, where the FMR is the union of all the Tx-IRS and IRS-Rx distance pairs that enable full multiplexing communication. We derive an inner bound of the FMR under a special passive beamforming (PB) strategy named reflective focusing, and provide the corresponding orientation settings of the antenna arrays that achieve full multiplexing.

Robust Beamforming Design for an IRS-Aided NOMA Communication System With CSI Uncertainty

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a promising technology that provides high throughput in future communication systems and is compatible with various communication techniques, such as non-orthogonal multiple-access (NOMA). This paper studies the downlink transmission of IRS-assisted NOMA communication, considering the practical case of imperfect channel state information (CSI). Aiming to maximize the system sum rate, a robust IRS-aided NOMA design is proposed to jointly find the optimal beamforming vector for the access point and the passive reflection matrix for the IRS. This robust design is realised using the penalty dual decomposition (PDD) scheme, and it is shown that the results have a close performance to their upper bound obtained from the corresponding perfect CSI scenario. The presented method is compatible with both continuous and discrete phase shift elements of the IRS. Our findings show that the proposed algorithms, for both continuous and discrete IRS, have low computational complexity compared to other schemes in the literature. Furthermore, we conduct a performance comparison between the IRS-aided NOMA and the IRS-aided orthogonal multiple access (OMA). This comparison shows that robust beamforming techniques are crucial for the system to reap the advantages of IRS-aided NOMA communication in the presence of CSI uncertainty.

Capacity Characterization Analysis of Optical Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted MISO VLC

Capacity Characterization Analysis of Optical Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted MISO VLC

A Chaos-FFH Based Approach Against Illegal Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IIRS) Based Jamming Attacks

Illegal intelligent reflecting surfaces (I- IRSs), i.e., the illegal deployment and utilization of IRSs, impose serious harmful impacts on wireless networks. The existing I-IRS-based illegal jammer (IJ) requires channel state information (CSI) or extra power or both, and therefore, the I-IRS- based IJ seems to be difficult to implement in practical wireless networks. Due to continued sharing of resources, wireless networks often come under security attacks, most common of which are eavesdropping attacks. In the case of eavesdropping attacks, deliberately designed random eavesdropping data is added to the channel. These eavesdropping along with noise result in packet losses and low throughput, degrading the overall performance of the cognitive network. In this work, a security aware jamming and eavesdropping rejection mechanism is proposed which detects suspicious signals in the channel frequency response and employs discrete equalization to recover transmitted data. The proposed approach uses a chaos based FFH protocol for possible adversarial eavesdropping attacks. The error rate and average sum rate show that the proposed system outperforms the exiting systems in terms of the performance metrics. Keywords:- Illegal Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IIRS), Jamming Attack, Packet Intercept. Error Rate, Sum Rate

A Fair Energy Allocation Algorithm for IRS-Assisted Cognitive MISO Wireless-Powered Networks

With the rapid development of wireless communication networks and Internet of Things technology (IoT), higher requirements have been put forward for spectrum resource utilization and system performance. In order to further improve the utilization of spectrum resources and system performance, this paper proposes an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-assisted fair energy allocation algorithm for cognitive multiple-input single-output (MISO) wireless-powered networks. The goal of this paper is to maximize the minimum energy receiving power in the energy receiver, which is constrained by the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) threshold of the information receiver in the secondary network, the maximum transmission power at the cognitive base station (CBS), and the interference power threshold of the secondary network on the main network. Due to the coupling between variables, this paper uses iterative optimization algorithms to optimize and solve different variables. That is, when solving the active beamforming variables, the passive beamforming variables are fixed; then, the obtained active beamforming variables are fixed, and the passive beamforming variables are solved. Through continuous iterative optimization, the system converges. The simulation results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

IRS Backscatter-Based Secrecy Enhancement against Active Eavesdropping

This paper proposes to combat active eavesdropping using intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) backscatter techniques. To be specific, the source (Alice) sends the confidential information to the intended user (Bob), while the eavesdropper (Willie) transmits a jamming signal to interrupt the transmission for more data interception. To enhance the secrecy, an IRS is deployed and connected with Alice through fiber to transform the jamming signal into the confidential signal by employing backscatter techniques. Based on the considered model, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at Bob under the constraints of the transmit power at Alice, the reflection vector at the IRS, and the allowable maximum the SINR at Willie. To address the optimization problem, an alternate optimization algorithm is developed. The simulation results verify the achievable secrecy gain of the proposed scheme. The proposed scheme is effective in combating active eavesdropping. Furthermore, the deployment of large-scale IRS significantly enhances the secrecy rate.

A Survey of Physical Layer Secret Key Generation Enhanced by Intelligent Reflecting Surface

As wireless communication scenarios grow more complicated, security issues are becoming increasingly prominent and severe. In the Internet of Things and vehicle-to-everything scenarios, conventional cryptographic technology faces numerous challenges. These include difficulties in secret key distribution and management, low update rates of secret keys, and vulnerability to quantum attacks. Physical layer secret key generation is considered a promising solution to security issues. The perfect secrecy proposed by Shannon can be achieved by combining secret key generation and the one-time pad when the length of secret keys is equal to that of plaintext. Hence, it is important to increase secret key generation rates. Intelligent reflecting surfaces demonstrate great advantages in improving the secret key generation performance. This paper provides a comprehensive review of current research efforts related to secret key generation assisted by intelligent reflecting surfaces, which is divided into three main categories: introducing the randomness of intelligent reflecting surfaces, optimizing the reflecting coefficients, and designing probing protocols. Comparative results of existing optimization approaches are provided and discussed. Furthermore, we emphasize the significance of selecting a random source of secret key generation from the perspective of information theory. Finally, two significant application scenarios, the Industrial Internet of Things and vehicle-to-everything, are discussed, and some challenges and opportunities are presented.

Orthonormal pilot-based channel estimation with low complexity phase shift optimization and coverage enhancement for IRS-assisted B5G communication

Beyond fifth-generation (B5G) technology features millimeter wave (mmWave) to ensure low latency and high capacity while enabling multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) facilities. MMWave signals are attenuated over short distances, resulting in a smaller coverage area. The B5G network relies on Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRS) for reducing mmWave attenuation. IRS increases mmWave coverage and reduces obstruction risks by introducing phase shifts on incident beams. Complete channel state information (CSI) is required to estimate phase shifts in IRS and precoding. A novel orthonormal pilot matrix with a low-complexity channel estimation method is proposed in this context. The proposed channel estimation method achieved maximum accuracy with limited pilot sequences. A low-complexity phase shift optimization technique is also presented in this study using estimated channel information. On the other hand, the use of the desired number of reflective elements is highlighted to maximize coverage. On the basis of received signal strength and outage probability, two approaches are presented for determining the number of reflective elements. The derived closed-form expression of outage probability (OP) seems simple. It shows close agreement with the theoretical model. Results show that the proposed model provides better achievable rates than conventional IRS models.

Dynamic resource allocation in IRS-assisted UAV wideband cognitive radio networks: A DDQN-TD3 approach

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) technology has found extensive application in the wireless communication domain, offering significant enhancements in communication performance by manipulating the reflection of electromagnetic waves. This research article delves into the domain of UAV-assisted wideband cognitive radio networks augmented by IRS and underpinned by sensing-based spectrum sharing techniques. We introduce UAVs as alternative solutions for both primary and secondary base stations to optimize the management of spectral resources. Our primary objective centers around the joint optimization of both the trajectories of the primary and secondary UAVs, power allocation at the secondary UAVs, reflection coefficients of intelligent reflecting surfaces, sensing time, and subcarrier allocation, all aimed at maximizing the achievable rate of secondary users. Given that the problem at hand is non-convex, we employ deep reinforcement learning algorithms for resolution. To address the challenge of mixed-action spaces, we implement a novel Dueling DQN-Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic policy gradient (DDQN-TD3) algorithm. The simulation outcomes illustrate that the methodology introduced in this paper substantially amplifies the performance of CR system when contrasted with benchmark methods. This is evident in the improved spectrum efficiency, elevated data transmission rates, and the minimization of interference with the primary network.