Multi-Subarray FD-RIS Enhanced Multi-User Wireless Networks: With Joint Distance-Angle Beamforming

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Abstract
The concept of the frequency diverse reconfigurable intelligent surface (FD-RIS) technology has been introduced, which can enable simultaneous implementation of distance-angle beamforming in far-field communication scenarios. In order to improve the managing ability on undesired harmonic signals and the diversity of frequency offsets, this paper presents a novel multi-subarray FD-RIS framework. In this framework, the RIS is evenly divided into multiple subarrays, each employing a distinct time-modulation frequency to enable the diversity of frequency offsets. Additionally, to suppress the undesired harmonic signals, a new time-modulation technique is employed to periodically adjust the phase-shift of each element. In this case, the signal processing model is first analytically derived. Then, we integrate it into a multi-user communication scenario and formulate an optimization problem that aims to maximize the weighted sum rate of all users. This is achieved by jointly optimizing the active beamforming, time delays, and modulation frequencies. Subsequently, a novel iterative algorithm is proposed to effectively solve this problem with low computing complexity. To evaluate the beamforming capability of the proposed multi-subarray FD-RIS, three communication scenarios with varying spatial correlations among users are considered. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed multi-subarray FD-RIS can significantly enhance and sustain the performance of communication networks by leveraging unique distance-angle beamforming, even when users share the same angular position where traditional RIS experiences severe degradation. The proposed algorithm also demonstrates a notably superiority in performance and computational complexity compared with the baseline algorithms such as semi-definite relaxation (SDR) and zero-forcing (ZF).
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (62471380)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (62201449)
  • Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and China Institute of Communications (YESS20230611)
  • open research fund of National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University (2025D08)
  • Qin Chuang Yuan High-Level Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent Program (QCYRCXM-2022-231)
  • “Si Yuan Scholar” Foundation
  • EU H2020 Project SECOM

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