Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Near-field Communications for 6G: Opportunities and Challenges

The author explores the benefits of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS)-aided near-field communications for 6G, highlighting the advantages of spherical-wave-based propagation and addressing performance limits, beam training, and beamforming design. The main thesis is to emphasize the necessity of investigating RIS-aided near-field communications due to their unique advantages over far-field communications, paving the way for sustainable and ubiquitous 6G services.