Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Aided Wireless Communications: A Tutorial

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is an enabling technology to engineer the radio signal propagation in wireless networks. By smartly tuning reflection via a large number of low-cost passive elements, IRS capable dynamically altering channels enhance communication performance. It thus expected that new IRS-aided hybrid network comprising both active and components will be highly promising achieve sustainable capacity growth cost-effectively future. Despite its great potential, faces challenges efficiently integrated into networks, such as optimization, channel estimation, deployment from design perspectives. In this paper, we provide tutorial overview communications address above issues, elaborate models, hardware architecture practical constraints, well various appealing applications Moreover, highlight important directions worthy further investigation future work.