A fundamental premise in the design of wireless networks is that we accept the wireless propagation environment as is, and hence only focus on end points. However, for many challenging propagation environments, this design philosophy can be too limiting. We ask if we could alter the wireless propagation to achieve higher performance.

This talk introduces building new physical infrastructure for next-generation wireless networks and sensing systems, focusing on high-frequency bands where propagation is most challenging. We aim to transform the propagation environment into an active, intelligent component of the wireless system through low-power metamaterial surfaces and lenses in the environment. Strategically deployed on buildings and roadsides, these devices bring outdoor signals indoors to maintain connectivity, reflect signals around corners to eliminate blind spots, and capture scattered reflections to locate hidden objects. Our ultimate vision is to create smart physical infrastructure that forms a sense-learn-shape loop of continuously sensing how signals propagate, learning patterns from these observations, and dynamically reshaping the radio environment on demand. We demonstrate our vision through complete hardware implementation, from metamaterial fabrication to real-time deployment in city-scale testbeds, operating across the spectrum from sub-6 GHz to millimeter-wave frequencies and working seamlessly across different network layers.

Zoom: https://umd.zoom.us/j/91896497287?pwd=TgLOajnmco7gvyMS6AVKx71WOwkSy2.1