From Passive Reflection to Intelligent Wireless Environments: AI-Empowered Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces for 6G

#AI #6G #Intelligent #Reflecting #Surfaces #WIE

IEEE WIE STAR Program

Invited Talk  

From Passive Reflection to Intelligent Wireless Environments: AI-Empowered Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces for 6G

Yingying Wu

Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

About the Talk

Future wireless networks are expected to support ubiquitous connectivity, high reliability, enhanced security, and intelligent services across increasingly complex communication environments. However, conventional wireless systems primarily adapt transmission and reception strategies to the propagation environment, rather than actively controlling the environment itself. Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRSs) offer a new paradigm by enabling programmable control of wireless propagation.

At the same time, the large number of configurable IRS elements, dynamic network conditions, user mobility, and complex optimization objectives make real-time IRS control increasingly challenging. Artificial intelligence provides promising tools for enabling adaptive IRS configuration, resource allocation, beamforming, and intelligent decision-making under such dynamic environments.

This talk will introduce the fundamental concept of IRS-assisted wireless communications and discuss how AI can transform IRSs from programmable reflecting devices into intelligent components of future wireless networks. Representative applications in secure communications, satellite and non-terrestrial networks, and intelligent resource optimization will be presented. The talk will also discuss current challenges, including channel acquisition, real-time control, hardware constraints, and AI-assisted autonomous optimization, and conclude with perspectives on the evolution toward intelligent and programmable wireless environments for 6G.

About the Speaker

Yingying Wu received the B.S. degree in Information Management and Information Systems from Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Tianjin, China, in 2022. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of Cybersecurity, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China. Her research interests include intelligent reflecting surfaces, satellite and non-terrestrial communications, physical-layer security, cybersecurity, and AI-enabled wireless communications. She received the Best Paper Award in the Symposium on Mobile and Wireless Networks at IEEE ICC 2026. She also serves as a reviewer for several IEEE journals, including IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Wireless Communications, IEEE Network, and IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, and served as a Session Chair at IEEE ICC 2026.

Sponsors:  IEEE Princeton/Central Jersey Section

                   IEEE Photonics Society PCJ Chapter

All are welcome! You do not have to be a member of the IEEE to attend. The registration is free and required.

Event link:
https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/579059

Time:  8:00~8:40PM (Eastern Time), Wednesday October 7^th 2026

Zoom: https://futurewei.zoom.us/j/6135444997

Zoom ID: 613 544 4997

Registration Required (Please Click "Register Now" at the end of this page to finish your registration)