On the Fundamental Characteristics of Intelligent Reflecting Surface Enabled MIMO Channels

Smart radio environment (SRE) via reconfigurable and intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) is envisioned to shape wireless communication beyond 5G. In SRE, low-cost, low-power, and passive IRS elements will, in an intelligent manner, alter the phase shifts of incident waves to beamform the reflected signal in the desired direction. SRE challenges the status quo of communication system design as t...