RIS-Assisted Integrated Sensing and Backscatter Communications for Future IoT Networks

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), by intelligently manipulating the incident waveform, offers a spectral and energy efficient capability for improving sensing and communication performance. In this article, we introduce a novel concept of RIS-assisted integrated sensing and backscatter communication (ISABC) system, by introducing RIS as either helper or transceiver to resolve the energy constraint of devices in internet of things (IoT) network and enable non line-of-sight (NLoS) sensing. We first introduce the RIS-assisted ISABC framework, including the system architecture and realization of RIS. Three potential applications are then discussed, with the analysis on their requirements. The research on several critical techniques for the RIS-assisted ISABC system is then discussed. Finally, we provide our vision of the challenges and future research directions to facilitate the development of the RIS-assisted ISABC systems.