filiberto bilotti

Metasurfaces 3.0 As A Key Enabling Technology For Future Wireless Systems

More than 20 years are passed since the origin of metamaterials [1]. Metasurfaces, i.e. the 2D counterpart of metamaterials, have rapidly captured the interest of scientists and engineers, due their unprecedented ability to manipulate the electromagnetic field and to their straightforward and low-cost implementation at microwaves and millimeter waves. While the first decade of scientific research has been mainly focused on engineering the properties of the periodic and passive metasurfaces (Metasurfaces 1.0) through a proper design of the unit-cell and the unit-cell spacing and interaction [2], the second decade has been devoted to control the properties of the metasurfaces at first by introducing spatial modulation (Metasurface 2.0) [3] and, more recently, by exploiting temporal modulation (Metasurface 3.0) [4]-[13]. The control of the unit-cell properties in time makes the current generation of metasurfaces an enabling technology in many application fields, including future wireless systems, industrial IoT, smart electromagnetic environments, etc. [14] In this frame, we will review our recent achievements on the use of Metasurfaces 3.0 to enhance the functionalities of future wireless systems. In particular, we will show how the new generation of metasurfaces, whose unit-cells are loaded with a properly engineered electronic circuitry, which could be either passive or actively controlled, is able to bring intelligence at the system level. These results demonstrate a new trend in wireless communication & sensing where the current technological bottle-necks caused by the extreme hardware virtualization (e.g. massive computation, unacceptable latency and jitter, etc.) are brilliantly overcome by bringing some functionalities back from the signal processing/protocols levels down to the physical layer.

References

[1] F. Bilotti and L. Sevgi, "Metamaterials: definitions, properties, applications, and FDTD-based modeling and simulation," Int J. RF Microw. C. E., Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 422-438, July 2012.

[2] S. A. Tretyakov, “Metasurfaces for general transformations of electromagnetic fields,” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, vol. 373, no. 2049, p. 20140362, 2015.

[3] M. Faenzi, et al. “Metasurface antennas: new models, applications and realizations,” Sci. Rep., Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-14, 2019.

[4] M. Barbuto, Z. Hamzavi-Zarghani, M. Longhi, A.V. Marini, A. Monti, D. Ramaccia, S. Vellucci, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Intelligence enabled by 2D metastructures in antennas and wireless propagation systems" IEEE Open J. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 3, pp. 135-153, 2022.

[5] S. Vellucci, et al. "Multi-layered coating metasurfaces enabling frequency reconfigurability in wire antennas," IEEE Open J. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 3, pp. 206-216, 2022.

[6] X. Fang, et al. "Design of in-phase and quadrature two paths space-time-modulated metasurfaces," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., (to appear) 2022.

[7] S. Vellucci, et al. "On the use of non-linear metasurfaces for circumventing fundamental limits of mantle cloaking for antennas," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 69, pp. 5048-5053, 2021

[8] A. Casolaro, A. Alù, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Dynamic beam steering with reconfigurable metagratings" IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 68, pp. 1542-1552, 2020

[9] S. Vellucci, A. Monti, M. Barbuto, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Waveform-selective mantle cloaks for intelligent antennas," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 68, pp. 1717-1725, 2020

[10] A. Monti, A. Alù, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Surface impedance modeling of all-dielectric metasurfaces," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., Vol. 68, pp. 1799-1811, 2020

[11] A.V. Marini, D. Ramaccia, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Metasurface-bounded open cavities supporting virtual absorption: free-space energy accumulation in lossless systems," Opt. Lett., Vol. 45, pp. 3147-3150, 2020

[12] D. Ramaccia, D. Sounas, A. Toscano, F. Bilotti, "Electromagnetic isolation induced by time-varying metasurfaces: non-reciprocal Bragg grating," IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett., Vol. 19, No. 11, pp.1886-1890, 2020

[13] D. Ramaccia, D. Sounas, A. Alù, F. Bilotti, A. Toscano, "Non-reciprocity in antenna radiation induced by space-time varying metamaterial cloaks," IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett., Vol. 17, pp. 1968-1972, 2018.

[14] M. Barbuto, et al. "Metasurfaces 3.0: a new paradigm for enabling smart electromagnetic environments," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat. (arXiv:2112.02293), 2022.

Filiberto Bilotti is a Full Professor of electromagnetic field theory and the Director of the Antennas and Metamaterials Research Laboratory at the Department of Industrial, Electronic, Mechanical Engineering of ROMA TRE University. His research is recently focused on the modelling and applications of reconfigurable intelligent metasurfaces. He has published 500+ papers in international journals, conference proceedings, book chapters, and 3 patents. Filiberto Bilotti was a founding member of the Virtual Institute for Artificial Electromagnetic Materials and Metamaterials – METAMORPHOSE VI in 2007 and led the society as the President in 2013-2019. He also served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and the journal Metamaterials and as a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal on RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, Nature Scientific Reports, and EPJ Applied Metamaterials. He hosted in 2007 the inaugural edition of the International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics – Metamaterials Congress, served as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the same conference for 8 editions, and was elected as the General Chair of the Metamaterials Congress for 4 editions. He has been also serving as the chair or a member of the technical program, steering, and organizing committee of the main national and international conferences in the field of applied electromagnetics. Prof. Bilotti was the recipient of a number of awards and recognitions, including the elevation to the IEEE Fellow grade for contributions to metamaterials for electromagnetic and antenna applications, outstanding Associate Editor of the IEEE TAP, NATO SET Panel Excellence Award, Finmeccanica Group Innovation Prize, IET Best Poster Paper Award (Metamaterials 2011 and 2013), Raj Mittra Travel Grant Senior Researcher Award.