Reconfigurable intelligent surface assisted BackCom: An overview, analysis, and future research directions

For efficient, controllable, and secure communication, different technologies are integrated with sixth-generation (6G) networks. Backscatter communication (BackCom) is an energy harvesting communication technology which is very efficient for 6G networks and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. For seamless and controllable signal propagation, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is particularly effective which provides better signal quality through its electronically controlled smart beamforming techniques. This article provides an overview and research directions regarding promising RIS-assisted BackCom. A secured RIS-assisted BackCom for seamless, reliable, and efficient communication is also presented in this study. The research findings reveal that when we deploy RIS-assisted BackCom, the channel gain, data transmission rate, and energy efficiency of the signal reflecting surfaces are all substantially enhanced.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This article discusses backscatter communication and reconfigurable intelligent surface technology in sixth-generation networks, and presents research directions and security aspects of RIS-assisted backscatter communication. The findings demonstrate significant enhancements in channel gain, data transmission rate, and energy efficiency when deploying RIS-assisted backscatter communication.