Controlling propagation environments using Intelligent Walls

This paper introduces the concept of an Active Wall (a wall equipped with an active frequency selective surface) as a powerful instrument to control the propagation environment. Further, the evolved Active Wall, referred to as an Intelligent Wall, is considered to be an autonomous part of a smart indoor environment for cognitive wireless networks. The Intelligent Wall is a wall inside a building equipped with an active frequency selective surface, simple low-cost sensors and a cognitive engine with machine-learning ability. Using simulations, it has been shown that a Smart environment based on Intelligent Walls can react to the immediate demands of an indoor wireless system, control radio coverage, and, consequently, influence overall system performance. The concept of Intelligent Walls is described and evaluated based on the simple implementation of an arrangement of two Intelligent Walls in a conference center scenario. All simulations of Smart environments are performed using a new 3D semi-deterministic propagation model which is described and briefly verified.