ABOUT
Marco Di Renzo was born in L’Aquila, Italy, in 1978. He received the Laurea
(cum laude) and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University
of L’Aquila, Italy, in 2003 and 2007, respectively, and the Habilitation a
Diriger des Recherches (Doctor of Science) degree from University Paris-Sud,
France, in 2013. Since 2010, he has been with the French National Center for
Scientific Research (CNRS), where he is a CNRS Research Director (CNRS
Professor) in the Laboratory of Signals and Systems (L2S) of Paris-Saclay
University – CNRS, CentraleSupelec, Univ Paris Sud, Paris, France. He serves
as the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Communications Letters, and as an Editor of
IEEE Transactions on Communications, and IEEE Transactions on Wireless
Communications. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Vehicular
Technology Society and IEEE Communications Society. He is a recipient of
several awards, including the 2013 IEEE-COMSOC Best Young Researcher Award
for Europe, Middle East and Africa, the 2013 NoE-NEWCOM# Best Paper Award,
the 2014-2015 Royal Academy of Engineering Distinguished Visiting
Fellowship, the 2015 IEEE Jack Neubauer Memorial Best System Paper Award,
the 20152018 CNRS Award for Excellence in Research and Ph.D. Supervision,
the 2016 MSCA Global Fellowship (declined), the 2017 SEE-IEEE Alain Glavieux
Award, the 2018 IEEECOMSOC Young Professional in Academia Award, and 8 Best
Paper Awards at IEEE conferences (2012 and 2014 IEEE CAMAD, 2013 IEEE
VTC-Fall, 2014 IEEE ATC, 2015 IEEE ComManTel, 2017 IEEE SigTelCom, EAI 2018
INISCOM, IEEE ICC 2019). He is a highly cited researcher according to Web of
Science (2019), and a Fellow of the IEEE.
Talk: Wireless 2.0: Wireless Networks Empowered by Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
Abstract: Future wireless networks will be as pervasive as the air we breathe, not
only connecting us but embracing us through a web of systems that support
personal and societal well-being. That is, the ubiquity, speed and low
latency of such networks will allow currently disparate devices and services
to become a distributed intelligent communications, sensing, and computing
platform.
Small cells, massive MIMO, millimeter-wave communications are three
fundamental technologies that will spearhead the emergence of 5G wireless
networks – Their advantages are undeniable. The question is, however,
whether these technologies will be sufficient to meet the requirements of
future wireless networks that integrate communications, sensing, and
computing in a single platform.
Wireless networks, in addition, are rapidly evolving towards a
software-defined design paradigm, where every part of the network can be
configured and controlled via software. In this optimization process,
however, the wireless environment itself – the medium or channel – is
generally assumed uncontrollable and often an impediment to be reckoned
with. For example, signal attenuation limits the network connectivity,
multi-path propagation results in fading phenomena, reflections and
refractions from objects are a source of uncontrollable interference.
Recently, a new concept called reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs)
has emerged wherein every environmental object is coated with man-made
intelligent surfaces of configurable electromagnetic materials. These
materials would contain integrated electronic circuits and software that
enable control of the wireless medium. Thus, RISs enable telecommunication
operators to sculpt the very medium that comprises the network. With the aid
of RISs, wireless networks will not be designed anymore to adapt themselves
to the environment, but the environment will become part of the optimization
space. As such, RISs have the potential to fundamentally change how wireless
networks are designed and usher in that hoped-for wireless future. But, RISs
are not currently well-understood.
This talk will cover the emerging wireless vision, the enabling
technologies, the most recent theoretical and experimental advances, and the
most promising applications envisioned for RISs in wireless networks.