A Long-Range and Nearly Passive RFID-Controlled Information Metasurface

Information metasurfaces (IMSs) have been considered to be a revolutionary technology for improving the spectral efficiency of sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications due to their superior ability to manipulate electromagnetic (EM) waves. However, there are still problems to be solved before the widespread application of IMSs. The first is to reduce power consumption, and the second is to achieve a long-range remote control. In this paper, a long-range and nearly passive radio frequency identification (RFID)-controlled IMS is proposed. The proposed IMS comprises four RFID tags and 8 x 8 elements, each of which is integrated with a single-pole-double-throw switch chip to achieve 1-bit phase reconfigurability. With the remote control of the RFID system, the IMS can be programmed to switch between three functionalities, including beam splitting, beamforming, and EM-wave absorption. Experiments are performed and the beam-splitting functionality is demonstrated. The measurement results indicate that the wireless communication between the RFID reader and the IMS is robust within 21.7 m. Additionally, the power consumption of the IMS is as low as 0.576 mW, which can be negligible. The scheme presented in this paper paves the way for the large-scale applications of IMSs in 6G wireless communications.