IRS-Assisted Wireless Systems: Phase Setting and BER Analysis

Abstract

An intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is a passive planar surface that enhances wireless communication by manipulating electromagnetic waves. It optimizes signal strength, capacity, coverage, and energy efficiency through the adjustment of incident signal’s phase and reflection. In this paper, we explore and compare three phase shift methods for phase optimization: (1) maximum energy path (MEP), (2) mean phase shift (MPS), and (3) weighted phase shift (WPS). Our results consistently show that the WPS method outperforms the others in terms of bit error rate (BER) across various system setups, including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). Additionally, we consider the impact of the number of reflecting elements, modulation order, detector, and the number of antennas in the system analysis. Furthermore, we analyze the time complexity for different system setups. These findings provide valuable insights into optimal phase configurations with low complexity, contributing to the understanding and improvement of wireless communication performance in diverse scenarios. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.