Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface System Level Simulations for Industry Standards

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is an emerging technology for wireless communications. In this article, extensive system-level simulations are conducted to analyze the performance of multi-RIS and multi-base-station (BS) scenarios by considering typical settings for industry standards. Pathloss and large-scale fading are taken into account when modeling the RIS cascaded and direct links. The performance metrics considered are the downlink reference signal received power (RSRP) and the signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR). The evaluation methodology is compatible with that utilized for technology studies in industry standards development organizations by considering the uniqueness of RIS. The simulations are comprehensive, and they take into account different layouts of RIS panels and mobiles in a cell, as well as different densities and sizes of RIS panels. Several practical aspects are considered, including the interference between RIS panels, the phase quantization of RIS elements, and the failure of RIS elements. The impact of near-field effects for the RIS-mobile links is also analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate the potential of RIS-aided deployments for improving the system capacity and cell coverage in 6G mobile systems.