Energy Efficient Hybrid Relay-IRS-Aided Wireless IoT Network for 6G Communications

Abstract

Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRS) have been recognized as presenting a highly energy-efficient and optimal solution for future fast-growing 6G communication systems by reflecting the incident signal towards the receiver. The large number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices are distributed randomly in order to serve users while providing a high data rate, seamless data transfer, and Quality of Service (QoS). The major challenge in satisfying the above requirements is the energy consumed by IoT network. Hence, in this paper, we examine the energy-efficiency (EE) of a hybrid relay-IRS-aided wireless IoT network for 6G communications. In our analysis, we study the EE performance of IRS-aided and DF relay-aided IoT networks separately, as well as a hybrid relay-IRS-aided IoT network. Our numerical results showed that the EE of the hybrid relay-IRS-aided system has better performance than both the conventional relay and the IRS-aided IoT network. Furthermore, we realized that the multiple IRS blocks can beat the relay in a high SNR regime, which results in lower hardware costs and reduced power consumption.