Zijian Zhang / 张子健

← Back to Publications

Publication List

Zijian Zhang · 张子健

Complete IEEE-style references for publications and patents, with direct links to available papers and code.

* denotes the corresponding author.

Book Chapters

  1. [1]

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Q. Yu, and L. Dai, “IRS architecture and hardware design,” in Intelligent Surfaces Empowered 6G Wireless Network. Wiley-IEEE Press, Dec. 2023, ch. 2, pp. 15–36, doi: 10.1002/9781119913122.ch2.

    Book

Journal Papers

  1. [2]

    Z. Zhang, L. Dai, X. Chen, C. Liu, F. Yang, R. Schober, and H. V. Poor, “Active RIS vs. passive RIS: Which will prevail in 6G?,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 1707–1725, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2022.3231893.

    PaperCode
    ESI Top 0.1% Hot PaperESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper
  2. [3]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “A joint precoding framework for wideband reconfigurable intelligent surface-aided cell-free network,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 69, pp. 4085–4101, 2021, doi: 10.1109/tsp.2021.3088755.

    PaperCode
    ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper2025 IEEE Signal Processing Society Young Author Best Paper Award
  3. [4]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “Pattern-division multiplexing for multi-user continuous-aperture MIMO,” IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 2350–2366, Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/jsac.2023.3288244.

    PaperCode
  4. [5]

    Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, J. Wang, and Y. Shen, “Signal-multiplexing ranging for network localization,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 1694–1709, Mar. 2022, doi: 10.1109/twc.2021.3106172.

    PaperCode
  5. [6]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for 6G: Nine fundamental issues and one critical problem,” Tsinghua Sci. Technol., vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 929–939, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.26599/tst.2023.9010001.

    PaperCode
    TST Best Paper AwardTST Excellent Paper Award
  6. [7]

    Z. Zhang, J. Zhu, L. Dai, and R. W. Heath, Jr., “Successive Bayesian reconstructor for channel estimation in fluid antenna systems,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1992–2006, Mar. 2025, doi: 10.1109/twc.2024.3515135.

    PaperCode
    ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper
  7. [8]

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui, “Observation matrix design for densifying MIMO channel estimation via 2D ice filling,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 74, pp. 798–814, 2026, doi: 10.1109/tsp.2026.3657342.

    Paper
  8. [9]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “Wavenumber-domain signal processing for holographic MIMO: Foundations, methods, and future directions,” IEEE Commun. Standards Mag., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 127–133, Jun. 2026, doi: 10.1109/mcomstd.2026.3663934.

    Paper
  9. [10]

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui, “Enhancing channel estimation in RIS-aided systems via observation matrix design,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 75, no. 10, pp. 25198–25203, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2026.3697200.

    Paper
  10. [11]

    M. Cui, Z. Zhang*, L. Dai, and K. Huang, “Ice-filling: Near-optimal channel estimation for dense array systems,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 8551–8564, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.1109/twc.2025.3567797.

    PaperCode
  11. [12]

    J. Zhang, Z. Li, and Z. Zhang*, “Wideband active RISs: Architecture, modeling, and beamforming design,” IEEE Commun. Lett., vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 1899–1903, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.1109/lcomm.2023.3274433.

    Paper
  12. [13]

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and L. Hanzo, “Compact user-specific reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for uplink transmission,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 680–692, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2021.3124953.

    PaperCode
  13. [14]

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, S. Xu, and F. Yang, “Active reconfigurable intelligent surface: Fully-connected or sub-connected?,” IEEE Commun. Lett., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 167–171, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1109/lcomm.2021.3119696.

    PaperCode
    ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper
  14. [15]

    H. Zhao, Z. Zhang, J. Wang, Z. Zhang, and Y. Shen, “A signal-multiplexing ranging scheme for integrated localization and sensing,” IEEE Wireless Commun. Lett., vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1609–1613, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1109/lwc.2022.3168433.

    Paper
  15. [16]

    H. Zhao, Z. Zhang, L. Xu, Y. Wang, and Y. Shen, “Enhancing timeliness in asynchronous vehicle localization: A signal-multiplexing network measuring approach,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 13729–13743, Oct. 2024, doi: 10.1109/tits.2024.3404784.

    Paper
  16. [17]

    D. Shen, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Joint beamforming design for RIS-assisted cell-free network with multi-hop transmissions,” Tsinghua Sci. Technol., vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1115–1127, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.26599/tst.2023.9010019.

    Paper
  17. [18]

    Z. Wan, J. Zhu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and C.-B. Chae, “Mutual information for electromagnetic information theory based on random fields,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 1982–1996, Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2023.3247725.

    PaperCode
  18. [19]

    Y. Lu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Hierarchical beam training for extremely large-scale MIMO: From far-field to near-field,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 2247–2259, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2023.3344600.

    PaperCode
  19. [20]

    Z. Xu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Near-optimal near-field beam training: From searching to inference,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 9173–9185, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1109/twc.2025.3571488.

    Paper
  20. [21]

    X. Chen, X. Zhong, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and S. Zhou, “High-efficiency urban 3D radio map estimation based on sparse measurements,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 74, no. 10, pp. 16488–16493, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2025.3573595.

    Paper
  21. [22]

    Y. Tao, Z. Gao, Z. Zhu, D. Mi, Z. Wu, Z. Zhang, F. Zhang, D. Zheng, and S. Chen, “Rydberg atomic receivers for net-zero 6G wireless communication and sensing: Progress, experiments, and sustainable prospects,” IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 64, no. 8, pp. 52–59, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.1109/mcom.001.2500610.

    Paper

Conference Papers

  1. [23]

    Z. Zhang, L. Dai, X. Chen, C. Liu, F. Yang, R. Schober, and H. V. Poor, “Active RISs: Signal modeling, asymptotic analysis, and beamforming design,” in Proc. IEEE Global Commun. Conf. (GLOBECOM), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 2022, pp. 1618–1624, doi: 10.1109/globecom48099.2022.10001687.

    PaperCode
  2. [24]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “Pattern-division multiplexing for continuous-aperture MIMO,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. (ICC), Seoul, South Korea, May 2022, pp. 3287–3292, doi: 10.1109/icc45855.2022.9839220.

    PaperCode
    ComSoc Student Grant
  3. [25]

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai, “Capacity improvement in wideband reconfigurable intelligent surface-aided cell-free network,” in Proc. IEEE 21st Int. Workshop Signal Process. Adv. Wireless Commun. (SPAWC), Atlanta, GA, USA, May 2020, pp. 1–5, doi: 10.1109/spawc48557.2020.9154244.

    PaperCode
  4. [26]

    Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, and Y. Shen, “High-efficient ranging algorithms for wireless sensor network,” in Proc. 11th Int. Conf. Wireless Commun. Signal Process. (WCSP), Xi’an, China, Oct. 2019, pp. 1–6, doi: 10.1109/wcsp.2019.8928120.

    Paper
  5. [27]

    Z. Zhang, J. Zhu, L. Dai, and R. W. Heath, Jr., “Successive Bayesian reconstructor for FAS channel estimation,” in Proc. IEEE Wireless Commun. Netw. Conf. (WCNC), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Apr. 2024, pp. 1–5, doi: 10.1109/wcnc57260.2024.10571302.

    PaperCode
  6. [28]

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui, “Two-dimensional ice filling based channel estimation in densifying MIMO systems,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. (ICC), Montreal, Canada, Jun. 2025, pp. 4750–4755, doi: 10.1109/icc52391.2025.11161466.

    Paper
  7. [29]

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “User-side RIS: Realizing large-scale array at user side,” in Proc. IEEE Global Commun. Conf. (GLOBECOM), Madrid, Spain, Dec. 2021, pp. 1–6, doi: 10.1109/globecom46510.2021.9685418.

    PaperCode
  8. [30]

    K. Liu and Z. Zhang*, “On the energy-efficiency fairness of reconfigurable intelligent surface-aided cell-free network,” in Proc. IEEE 93rd Veh. Technol. Conf. (VTC-Spring), Helsinki, Finland, Apr. 2021, pp. 1–6, doi: 10.1109/vtc2021-spring51267.2021.9448858.

    Paper
  9. [31]

    M. Cui, Z. Zhang*, L. Dai, and K. Huang, “Channel estimation for dense array systems via ice-filling,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. Workshops (ICC Workshops), Montreal, Canada, Jun. 2025, pp. 794–799, doi: 10.1109/iccworkshops67674.2025.11162249.

    Paper
  10. [32]

    J. Zhu, Z. Zhang, Z. Wan, and L. Dai, “On finite-time mutual information,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Inf. Theory (ISIT), Espoo, Finland, Jun. 2022, pp. 2910–2915, doi: 10.1109/isit50566.2022.9834758.

    PaperCode
  11. [33]

    Y. Chen, Z. Zhang, M. Cui, and L. Dai, “Channel estimation for non-stationary extremely large-scale MIMO,” in Proc. IEEE 97th Veh. Technol. Conf. (VTC-Spring), Florence, Italy, Jun. 2023, pp. 1–5, doi: 10.1109/vtc2023-spring57618.2023.10199467.

    Paper
  12. [34]

    Y. Lu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Near-field 2D hierarchical beam training for extremely large-scale MIMO,” in Proc. IEEE Global Commun. Conf. (GLOBECOM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dec. 2023, pp. 7176–7181, doi: 10.1109/globecom54140.2023.10437041.

    Paper
  13. [35]

    Z. Wu, M. Cui, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Distance-aware precoding for near-field capacity improvement in XL-MIMO,” in Proc. IEEE 95th Veh. Technol. Conf. (VTC-Spring), Helsinki, Finland, Jun. 2022, pp. 1–5, doi: 10.1109/vtc2022-spring54318.2022.9860745.

    PaperCode
  14. [36]

    Z. Xu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai, “Low-overhead near-field beam training based on Bayesian regression,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Commun. (ICC), Montreal, Canada, Jun. 2025, pp. 1724–1729, doi: 10.1109/icc52391.2025.11161432.

    Paper

Demos & Other Contributions

  1. [37]

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Z. Peng, and L. Dai, “Active reconfigurable intelligent surface aided wireless communication prototype,” demonstration presented at 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2022), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 2022.

    Slides
  2. [38]

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Z. Wu, Y. Lu, Z. Wan, and L. Dai, “Active reconfigurable intelligent surface aided wireless communication prototype,” demonstration presented at 2023 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2023), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dec. 2023.

  3. [39]

    J. Huo, X. Han, J. Bi, H. Ma, R. Ma, C. Xu, L. Ye, H. Zhang, T. Zhang, Z. Zhang, and Y. Jiang, “Tinker@Home 2019 team description paper,” RoboCup@Home 2019, Open Platform League, team description paper, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://tdp.robocup.org/tdp/2019-tdp-tinker-robocuphome-open-platform/

    Paper

International Patents

  1. [40]

    K. Liu, L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Xu, and F. Yang, “Low-power-consumption reconfigurable intelligent surface hardware structure, and precoding method and apparatus,” PCT Int. Patent Appl. WO2023071264A1, May 4, 2023.

  2. [41]

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao, “Wireless telecommunications network,” PCT Int. Patent Appl. WO2022174418A1, Aug. 25, 2022.

  3. [42]

    K. Liu, L. Dai, and Z. Zhang, “Resource allocation and precoding method and apparatus for cell-free network capable of achieving energy efficiency equilibrium,” PCT Int. Patent Appl. WO2022262104A1, Dec. 22, 2022.

  4. [43]

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao, “Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface,” PCT Int. Patent Appl. WO2022175035A1, Aug. 25, 2022.

  5. [44]

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. MacKenzie, and M. Hao, “Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface,” U.S. Patent US12028139B2, Jul. 2, 2024.

  6. [45]

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao, “Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigureable intelligent surface,” European Patent EP4295492B1, Oct. 9, 2024.

Chinese Patents

  1. [46]

    K. Liu, L. Dai, and Z. Zhang, “能效公平无蜂窝网络的资源分配及预编码方法与装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent Appl. CN113473499A, Oct. 1, 2021.

  2. [47]

    K. Liu, L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Xu, and F. Yang, “低功耗的智能超表面硬件结构、预编码方法及装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN114040478B, Dec. 31, 2024.

  3. [48]

    Y. Shen, H. Zhao, and Z. Zhang, “一种无线网络联合定位方法及系统,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN112887906B, Mar. 11, 2022.

  4. [49]

    Y. Shen, Z. Zhang, X. Li, C. Xu, F. Ge, and Q. Zhi, “一种动态网络相对定位方法,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN108469600B, Jun. 30, 2020.

  5. [50]

    Y. Shen, Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, and J. Wang, “一种网络测距方法及装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN111262755B, Nov. 9, 2021.

  6. [51]

    Y. Shen, X. Li, C. Xu, Z. Zhang, F. Ge, and Q. Zhi, “无人车网络编队的运动规划和协作定位方法及装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN108664024B, Sep. 25, 2020.

  7. [52]

    L. Dai, M. Cui, Z. Zhang, S. Suo, H. Qin, and X. Su, “码本生成方法、信道估计方法、设备和存储介质,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN116566446B, Sep. 5, 2025.

  8. [53]

    L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Suo, X. Yang, L. Song, and X. Su, “移相矩阵的确定方法及装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent Appl. CN118174757A, Jun. 11, 2024.

  9. [54]

    L. Dai, J. Zhang, and Z. Zhang, “RIS及其辅助OFDM通信系统的预编码方法和装置,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN116260501B, Jul. 14, 2023.

  10. [55]

    Y. Shen, H. Zhao, H. Gao, and Z. Zhang, “一种动态场景分布式定位与同步方法,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent Appl. CN118368017A, Jul. 19, 2024.

  11. [56]

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao, “包括多层透射可重新配置智能表面的无线电信网络,” (in Chinese), Chinese Patent CN116868518B, Sep. 27, 2024.