Radar Cross Section Characterization of Quantized Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Yasmeen, Kainat, Ram, Shobha Sundar, Kundu, Debidas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Yasmeen, Kainat
Ram, Shobha Sundar
Kundu, Debidas
author_facet Yasmeen, Kainat
Ram, Shobha Sundar
Kundu, Debidas
contents We present a radar sensing framework based on a low-complexity, quantized reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that enables programmable manipulation of electromagnetic wavefronts for enhanced detection in non-specular and shadowed regions. We develop closed-form expressions for the scattered field and radar cross section (RCS) of phase-quantized RIS apertures based on aperture field theory, accurately capturing the effects of quantized phase, periodicity, and grating lobes on radar detection performance. The theory enables us to analyze the RIS's RCS along both the forward and backward paths from the radar to the target. The theory is benchmarked against full-wave electromagnetic simulations incorporating realistic unit-cell amplitude and phase responses. To validate practical feasibility, a $[16\times10]$ 1-bit RIS operating at 5.5 GHz is fabricated and experimentally characterized inside an anechoic chamber. Measurements of steering angles, beam-squint errors, and peak-to-specular ratios of the RCS patterns exhibit strong agreement with analytical and simulated results. Further experiments demonstrate that the RIS can redirect the beam in a non-specular direction and recover micro-Doppler signatures that remain undetectable with a conventional radar deployment.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_27961
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Radar Cross Section Characterization of Quantized Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
Yasmeen, Kainat
Ram, Shobha Sundar
Kundu, Debidas
Systems and Control
We present a radar sensing framework based on a low-complexity, quantized reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that enables programmable manipulation of electromagnetic wavefronts for enhanced detection in non-specular and shadowed regions. We develop closed-form expressions for the scattered field and radar cross section (RCS) of phase-quantized RIS apertures based on aperture field theory, accurately capturing the effects of quantized phase, periodicity, and grating lobes on radar detection performance. The theory enables us to analyze the RIS's RCS along both the forward and backward paths from the radar to the target. The theory is benchmarked against full-wave electromagnetic simulations incorporating realistic unit-cell amplitude and phase responses. To validate practical feasibility, a $[16\times10]$ 1-bit RIS operating at 5.5 GHz is fabricated and experimentally characterized inside an anechoic chamber. Measurements of steering angles, beam-squint errors, and peak-to-specular ratios of the RCS patterns exhibit strong agreement with analytical and simulated results. Further experiments demonstrate that the RIS can redirect the beam in a non-specular direction and recover micro-Doppler signatures that remain undetectable with a conventional radar deployment.
title Radar Cross Section Characterization of Quantized Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.27961