Metasurface-Coated Devices: A New Paradigm for Energy-Efficient and Secure Communications in 5G and Beyond

The power-hungry transceiver chains in 5G mobile communication systems result in huge power consumption due to the complex signal processing algorithms and transmission in millimeter wave bands. In this article, we report energy efficiency (EE), energy harvesting (EH), and secure performance via the new paradigm of power-collecting metasurface-coated devices enabling ultra-low-power (ULP) transmissions. Contrary to smart surfaces (a.k.a. reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, RIS), where the reflected signal can be combined at the receiver by being treated as transmitted from a relay, the proposed metasurface claddings can be deployed both at the transmitter and receiver sides. The passive metasurface-coated devices can achieve ultra-high-EE and EH besides signal detection, combined with an enhanced secrecy rate at the legitimate user and/or improved spying capabilities of the eavesdroppers under ULP transmission. In particular, we provide a holistic model for the utilization of the metasurface shells and preliminary simulation results reveal the superiority of the proposed concept compared to the RIS ones. Furthermore, we discuss the main advantages of the new concept, potential opportunities, and challenges in beyond 5G mobile communication networks.