IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,597,901
Granted Patent B2
US 12,597,901 · App. 17/713,556 · Granted Apr 7, 2026

Reconfigurable intelligent surface realized with integrated chip tiling

Inventors: Suresh Venkatesh (Princeton, NJ); Xuyang Lu (Princeton, NJ); Hooman Saeidi (Princeton, NJ); Kaushik Sengupta (Princeton, NJ)
Assignee: THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
H03H1/00H01Q15/002H03H11/02H03K17/687H03H2001/0064H03K3/037
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,597,901
App. No.
17/713,556
Granted
Apr 7, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed is an electromagnetic-circuit co-design approach for massively reconfigurable, multifunctional, and high-speed programmable metasurfaces with integrated chip tiling. The ability to manipulate the incident electromagnetic fields in a dynamically programmable manner and at high speeds using integrated chip tiling approach is also disclosed. The scalable architecture uses electromagnetic-circuit co-design of metasurfaces where each individual subwavelength meta-element is uniquely addressable and programmable. The disclosed device comprises a large array of such meta-elements. The design relies on integrated high frequency switches designed in conjugation with meta-element for massive reconfigurability of incident amplitude and phase. The disclosed chip is multi-functional and can perform beamforming, high speed spatial light modulation, dynamic holographic projections, and wavefront manipulation.

Claims (29)

1 . A device, comprising:

one or more electronic tiles, each tile integrated into at least one semiconductor chip, each electronic tile comprising at least one electromagnetic unit cell, each electromagnetic unit cell comprising a resonator element divided into a plurality of sectors, where adjacent sectors are connected via a switch at a connection point, each switch connected in parallel to a separate subwavelength inductive loop to create a high-resistance path when the switch is open, where each electromagnetic unit cell is programmable.

2 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the resonator element is a split-ring resonator structure.

3 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the resonator element is a C-shaped aperture structure.

4 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more electronic tiles are packaged on a printed circuit board.

5 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each semiconductor chip tile is a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based chip tile.

6 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic tiles are configured as an array of semiconductor chip tiles.

7 . The device according to claim 6 , wherein the array of semiconductor chip tiles is an m×n array of semiconductor chip tiles, where m, n≥2.

8 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each electromagnetic unit cell is a uniquely addressable and programmable.

9 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each electromagnetic unit cell has a length or width that is less than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength, and each electromagnetic unit cell is separated from a neighboring electromagnetic unit cell by a distance that is less than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength.

10 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each electromagnetic unit cell has a length or width that is greater than or equal to λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength, and each electromagnetic unit cell is separated from a neighboring electromagnetic unit cell by a distance that is equal to or greater than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength.

11 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each electromagnetic unit cell has a length or width that is less than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength, and each electromagnetic unit cell is separated from a neighboring electromagnetic unit cell by a distance that is equal to or greater than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength.

12 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each electromagnetic unit cell has a length or width that is greater than or equal to λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength, and each electromagnetic unit cell is separated from a neighboring electromagnetic unit cell by a distance that is equal to or greater than λ 0 /2 of the free-space wavelength.

13 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein each of a plurality of CMOS switches is equally spaced around a split-ring resonator structure.

14 . The device of claim 1 , wherein a digital control signal for each electromagnetic unit cell is provided through an 8-bit shift register.

15 . A system, comprising a device comprising one or more electronic tiles, each tile fully integrated into a semiconductor chip, each electronic tile comprising at least one electromagnetic unit cell, each unit cell comprising a resonator element divided into sectors, where adjacent sectors are connected via a switch at a connection point, each switch connected in parallel to a separate subwavelength inductive loop to create a high-resistance path when the switch is open, where each electromagnetic unit cell is programmably activatable by the switch at the connection point; and at least one processor configured to control the on- or off-state of each switch at each connection point on the device.

16 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the system is configured for at least one of beamforming, high speed spatial light modulation, dynamic holographic projections, and wavefront manipulation.

17 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is operably coupled to a field gate programmable array or an arbitrary waveform generator.

18 . The system according to claim 15 , further comprising a transmitter configured to direct a beam of radiation towards the device.

19 . The system according to claim 18 , further comprising at least one receiver configured to receive radiation after transmitting through the device or reflecting from the device.

20 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one receiver is a mobile receiver.

21 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one receiver is a non-mobile receiver.

22 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one transmitter is configured to transmit one or more frequencies of radiation.

23 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to produce an image based on information received by the at least one receiver.

24 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to reflect the beam towards a second device comprising one or more electronic tiles.

25 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein two or more receivers, each at a different geographic location, are operably coupled to a single transmitter, wherein the at least one processor is configured to direct a beam from the transmitter to one of the two or more receivers.

26 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the transmitter and the at least one receiver are located indoors.

27 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein at least one of the transmitter and/or the at least one receiver are located outdoors.

28 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust a reflected beam or a transmitted beam to track the at least one receiver as the at least one receiver changes position.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 11, 2022
From: VENKATESH, SURESH; LU, XUYANG; SAEIDI, HOOMAN; SENGUPTA, KAUSHIK
To: THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 061378/0153 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63170811 · Apr 5, 2021
Related Publication 20220337240A1 · Oct 20, 2022
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