Open Experimental Measurements of Sub-6GHz Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

In this article, we present two datasets that we make publicly available for research. The data is collected in a testbed comprised of a custom-made reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) prototype and two regular orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transceivers within an anechoic chamber. First, we discuss the details of the testbed and equipment used, including insights about the design and implementation of our RIS prototype. We further present the methodology we employ to gather measurement samples, which consists of letting the RIS electronically steer the signal reflections from an OFDM transmitter toward a specific location. To this end, we evaluate a suitably designed configuration codebook and collect measurement samples of the received power with an OFDM receiver. Finally, we present the resulting datasets, their format, and examples of exploiting this data for research purposes.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are envisioned to become a key enabling technology for next-generation mobile systems, such as beyond 5G/6G. An RIS consists of an array of subwavelength unit cells that can alter the electromagnetic (EM) response of the impinging radio-frequency (RF) signals in a nearly passive way.