Supporting Metaverse Applications with Reconfigurable Intelligent Antennas (MARIA)

This paper studies the support of Metaverse Applications using Reconfigurable Intelligent Antennas (MARIA). The proposed approach is based on using massive antenna arrays to perform user specific beamforming, in scenarios with high user density, where large numbers of users in a limited area are simultaneously immersed in the Metaverse. The proposed beamforming approach is shown to allow achieving multi-Gbps data rates for each user in an indoor scenario, using the simulations of realistic antenna arrays. A single IEEE 802.11ad access point (AP) is used to serve 60 users in the investigated setup, thus reducing significantly the amount of access points needed to achieve the same user data rates and reach an acceptable immersive quality of experience, which contributes to a green sustainable Metaverse. However, providing access to users in high density areas requires also that the connection to the core network supports the required data rates that need to be sustained for all users. Therefore, we also provide a discussion of fronthaul and backhaul techniques that are suitable for supporting high density user access to the Metaverse in various scenarios, including high speed train (HST) scenario with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) support.