Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-empowered communication is one of the promising physical layer enabling technologies for the sixth generation (6G) wireless networks due to their unprecedented capabilities in shaping the wireless communication environment. RISs are modeled as passive objects that can not transmit or receive wireless signals. While the passiveness of these surfaces is a key advantage in terms of power consumption and implementation complexity, it limits their capability to interact with the other active components in the network. Specifically, unlike conventional base stations (BSs), which actively identify themselves to user equipment (UEs) by periodically sending pilot signals, RISs need to be detected from the UE side. This paper proposes a novel RIS identification (RIS- ID) scheme, enabling UEs to detect and uniquely identify RISs in their surrounding environment. Furthermore, to assess the proposed RIS-ID scheme, we propose two performance metrics: the false and miss detection probabilities. These probabilities are analytically derived and verified through computer simulations, revealing the effectiveness of the proposed RIS-ID scheme under different operating scenarios.

翻译：可重构智能表面（RIS）赋能的通信因其在塑造无线通信环境方面具有前所未有的能力，成为第六代（6G）无线网络中一种前景广阔的物理层使能技术。RIS被建模为无法发送或接收无线信号的被动对象。虽然这些表面的被动性在功耗和实施复杂度方面具有关键优势，但也限制了其与网络中其他主动组件交互的能力。具体而言，与通过周期性发送导频信号主动向用户设备（UE）标识自身的传统基站（BS）不同，RIS需要从UE侧进行检测。本文提出了一种新颖的RIS识别（RIS-ID）方案，使UE能够检测并唯一识别其周围环境中的RIS。此外，为评估所提出的RIS-ID方案，我们提出了两个性能指标：虚警概率和漏检概率。这些概率通过理论推导得出，并经由计算机仿真验证，揭示了所提RIS-ID方案在不同操作场景下的有效性。