Emil Björnson

Emil Björnson is an Associate Professor at Linköping University, Sweden. He has performed MIMO research for more than 10 years and has filed more than 20 related patent applications. He also conducts research on radio resource allocation, machine learning for communications, and energy-efficient communications. He has authored the textbooks “Massive MIMO Networks: Spectral, Energy, and Hardware Efficiency” (2017) and “Optimal Resource Allocation in Coordinated Multi-Cell Systems” (2013). He is dedicated to reproducible research and has made a lot of simulation code openly available. He received the 2019 IEEE Communications Society Fred W. Ellersick Prize, the 2019 EURASIP Early Career Award, the 2018 IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in Wireless Communications, the 2016 Best PhD Award from EURASIP, and the 2014 Outstanding Young Researcher Award from IEEE ComSoc EMEA. He has received best conference paper awards at WCSP 2017, IEEE ICC 2015, IEEE WCNC 2014, IEEE SAM 2014, IEEE CAMSAP 2011, and WCSP 2009.

Update: “Communication Using Intelligent Reflective Surfaces: Fundamentals and Recent Insights”

Abstract: The research on intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) is moving rapidly and much progress has been made since the 2019 keynote on “Communication Using Intelligent Reflective Surfaces: Myths and Realities”. In a nutshell, an IRS is a surface that can control how it interacts with radio waves; for example, how they are scattered or absorbed. This feature can be used to improve the communication conditions. This presentation will first recap the fundamentals, using the latest refined system description, and clarify the similarities and differences compared with the conventional repeater and relaying technologies. The talk will then convey recent insights into the two major research challenges: What is a convincing use case of IRS-technology, compared to competing technologies? How can control these surfaces in practice?