Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications

Gabriel Goncalves Machado; Ferhad Kasem; Adrian McKernan; Chao Gu; David Cooper; Muhammad Ali Babar Abbasi; Simon  Cotton; Okan Yurduseven; Dmitry Zelenchuk

doi:10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications

Gabriel Goncalves Machado
, Ferhad Kasem
, Adrian McKernan
, Chao Gu
, David Cooper
, Muhammad Ali Babar Abbasi
, Simon Cotton
, Okan Yurduseven
, Dmitry Zelenchuk

Queens University Belfast

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

42 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operating within the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G communication. Numerical simulations detail the operation of a 1-bit unit cell controlled by a p-i-n diode and biased with RF chokes within the n257 - 5G FR2 band (26.5-29.5 GHz) at the optimized angle of incidence of ±30°. For designing the RIS, a theoretical model was evaluated to calculate the free-space path loss of an RIS-assisted wireless link, helping to select the most cost-effective RIS aperture area. The RIS design is based on a planar dipole reflector, interlaced to form a checkerboard lattice, supporting dual-polarization operation. A multilayer RF and electronics printed circuit board (PCB) is fabricated to evaluate design performance at both the unit cell and finite RIS array levels. Experiments are conducted to verify that the RIS performance aligns with analytical and simulated results. Finally, the RIS is tested in real-world scenarios, demonstrating its capabilities in reflected signal strength. Practical RIS performance makes it a promising candidate for reliable mmWave wireless communication systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6298-6311
Number of pages	14
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Volume	74
Issue number	7
Early online date	4 May 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 1 Jul 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 IEEE. All rights reserved.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Department for the Economy of Northern Ireland under the U.S. Ireland Research and Development Partnership under Grant USI 199, in part by the Horizon Europe Project 6G-SANDBOX (Supporting Architectural and technological Network evolutions through an intelligent, secureD and twinning enaBled Open eXperimentation facility) funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under Grant 101096328, and in part by the Project REASON (Research on Enabling Architectures and Solutions for Open Networks) sponsored by the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Funders	Funder number
Horizon Europe Project 6G-SANDBOX
Department for the Economy	USI 199
101096328

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

Payloads
MODIS
Antennas
Antennas and propagation
Antenna arrays
Apertures
Feeds
Phased arrays
Horn antennas
Planar arrays
5G
6G
B5G/6G
beam steering
free-space path loss
intelligent reflecting surface
IRS
millimeter wave
p-i-n diode
RCS
reconfigurable intelligent surface
RIS
unit cell

Access to Document

10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

Design_and_experimental_characterizationAuthor Accepted Manuscript, 8.81 MB

Cite this

Goncalves Machado, G., Kasem, F., McKernan, A., Gu, C., Cooper, D., Abbasi, M. A. B., Cotton, S., Yurduseven, O., & Zelenchuk, D. (2026). Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 74(7), 6298-6311. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

@article{682771a3c9bb4875b2d36e0a229c5af0,

title = "Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications",

abstract = "This article describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operating within the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G communication. Numerical simulations detail the operation of a 1-bit unit cell controlled by a p-i-n diode and biased with RF chokes within the n257 - 5G FR2 band (26.5-29.5 GHz) at the optimized angle of incidence of ±30°. For designing the RIS, a theoretical model was evaluated to calculate the free-space path loss of an RIS-assisted wireless link, helping to select the most cost-effective RIS aperture area. The RIS design is based on a planar dipole reflector, interlaced to form a checkerboard lattice, supporting dual-polarization operation. A multilayer RF and electronics printed circuit board (PCB) is fabricated to evaluate design performance at both the unit cell and finite RIS array levels. Experiments are conducted to verify that the RIS performance aligns with analytical and simulated results. Finally, the RIS is tested in real-world scenarios, demonstrating its capabilities in reflected signal strength. Practical RIS performance makes it a promising candidate for reliable mmWave wireless communication systems.",

keywords = "Payloads, MODIS, Antennas, Antennas and propagation, Antenna arrays, Apertures, Feeds, Phased arrays, Horn antennas, Planar arrays, 5G, 6G, B5G/6G, beam steering, free-space path loss, intelligent reflecting surface, IRS, millimeter wave, p-i-n diode, RCS, reconfigurable intelligent surface, RIS, unit cell",

author = "\{Goncalves Machado\}, Gabriel and Ferhad Kasem and Adrian McKernan and Chao Gu and David Cooper and Abbasi, \{Muhammad Ali Babar\} and Simon Cotton and Okan Yurduseven and Dmitry Zelenchuk",

year = "2026",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272",

language = "English",

volume = "74",

pages = "6298--6311",

journal = "IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation",

issn = "0018-926X",

publisher = "IEEE",

number = "7",

}

Goncalves Machado, G, Kasem, F, McKernan, A, Gu, C, Cooper, D, Abbasi, MAB, Cotton, S, Yurduseven, O & Zelenchuk, D 2026, 'Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications', IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 74, no. 7, pp. 6298-6311. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications. / Goncalves Machado, Gabriel; Kasem, Ferhad; McKernan, Adrian et al.
In: IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 74, No. 7, 01.07.2026, p. 6298-6311.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications

AU - Goncalves Machado, Gabriel

AU - Kasem, Ferhad

AU - McKernan, Adrian

AU - Gu, Chao

AU - Cooper, David

AU - Abbasi, Muhammad Ali Babar

AU - Cotton, Simon

AU - Yurduseven, Okan

AU - Zelenchuk, Dmitry

PY - 2026/7/1

Y1 - 2026/7/1

N2 - This article describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operating within the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G communication. Numerical simulations detail the operation of a 1-bit unit cell controlled by a p-i-n diode and biased with RF chokes within the n257 - 5G FR2 band (26.5-29.5 GHz) at the optimized angle of incidence of ±30°. For designing the RIS, a theoretical model was evaluated to calculate the free-space path loss of an RIS-assisted wireless link, helping to select the most cost-effective RIS aperture area. The RIS design is based on a planar dipole reflector, interlaced to form a checkerboard lattice, supporting dual-polarization operation. A multilayer RF and electronics printed circuit board (PCB) is fabricated to evaluate design performance at both the unit cell and finite RIS array levels. Experiments are conducted to verify that the RIS performance aligns with analytical and simulated results. Finally, the RIS is tested in real-world scenarios, demonstrating its capabilities in reflected signal strength. Practical RIS performance makes it a promising candidate for reliable mmWave wireless communication systems.

AB - This article describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) operating within the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G communication. Numerical simulations detail the operation of a 1-bit unit cell controlled by a p-i-n diode and biased with RF chokes within the n257 - 5G FR2 band (26.5-29.5 GHz) at the optimized angle of incidence of ±30°. For designing the RIS, a theoretical model was evaluated to calculate the free-space path loss of an RIS-assisted wireless link, helping to select the most cost-effective RIS aperture area. The RIS design is based on a planar dipole reflector, interlaced to form a checkerboard lattice, supporting dual-polarization operation. A multilayer RF and electronics printed circuit board (PCB) is fabricated to evaluate design performance at both the unit cell and finite RIS array levels. Experiments are conducted to verify that the RIS performance aligns with analytical and simulated results. Finally, the RIS is tested in real-world scenarios, demonstrating its capabilities in reflected signal strength. Practical RIS performance makes it a promising candidate for reliable mmWave wireless communication systems.

KW - Payloads

KW - MODIS

KW - Antennas

KW - Antennas and propagation

KW - Antenna arrays

KW - Apertures

KW - Feeds

KW - Phased arrays

KW - Horn antennas

KW - Planar arrays

KW - 5G

KW - 6G

KW - B5G/6G

KW - beam steering

KW - free-space path loss

KW - intelligent reflecting surface

KW - IRS

KW - millimeter wave

KW - p-i-n diode

KW - RCS

KW - reconfigurable intelligent surface

KW - RIS

KW - unit cell

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038634754

U2 - 10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

DO - 10.1109/TAP.2026.3685272

M3 - Conference article

SN - 0018-926X

VL - 74

SP - 6298

EP - 6311

JO - IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

JF - IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

IS - 7

ER -

Design and Experimental Characterization of a Wideband Dual-Polarized mmWave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for B5G/6G Communications

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this