Algorithm Design and Prototype Validation for Reconfigurable Intelligent Sensing Surface: Forward-Only Transmission

Abstract: Sensing-assisted communication schemes have recently garnered significant research attention. In this work, we design a dual-function reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), integrating both active and passive elements, referred to as the reconfigurable intelligent sensing surface (RISS), to enhance communication. By leveraging sensing results from the active elements, we propose communication enhancement and robust interference suppression schemes for both near-field and far-field models, implemented through the passive elements. These schemes remove the need for base station (BS) feedback for RISS control, simplifying the communication process by replacing traditional channel state information (CSI) feedback with real-time sensing from the active elements. The proposed schemes are theoretically analyzed and then validated using software-defined radio (SDR). Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the sensing algorithms in real-world scenarios, such as direction of arrival (DOA) estimation and radio frequency (RF) identification recognition. Moreover, the RISS-assisted communication system shows strong performance in communication enhancement and interference suppression, particularly in near-field models.