Wireless Network Coding with Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces

Abstract

Conventional wireless techniques are becoming inadequate for beyond-5G networks due to latency and bandwidth considerations. To improve the performance of wireless communication systems, especially in unfavorable channel conditions, we propose physical layer network coding (PNC) in an Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS)-assisted environment. PNC can increase the throughput while IRS can provide control of the wireless environment. An algorithm is proposed for finding the optimal phases of IRS. The theoretical bit error rate (BER) at the relay of IRS-aided butterfly network is derived. The analytical and simulation results demonstrate that IRS-aided PNC approach significantly improves the BER performance. The performance gain is around 2 dB due to IRS-aided PNC approach.