Zijian Zhang / 张子健

Publications

Book chapters, journal and conference papers, demonstrations, and patents in wireless communications, signal processing, and localization.

* denotes the corresponding author.

Book Chapters

  1. B1

    IRS Architecture and Hardware Design

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Q. Yu, and L. Dai

    in Intelligent Surfaces Empowered 6G Wireless Network, Chapter 2, pp. 15–36, Wiley-IEEE Press, Dec. 2023.

    Book DOI
  2. B2

    Optimization of Active Metasurfaces

    Z. Zhang, Z. Xu, H. Li, and L. Dai

    in Reconfigurable Metasurfaces for Wireless Communications: Architectures, Modeling, and Optimization, Part B, Springer Nature, 2024.

Journal Papers

Click a figure to view it at full size.

  1. Passive and active RIS architectures and their reflecting-element circuits
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 3
    J1

    Active RIS vs. Passive RIS: Which Will Prevail in 6G?

    Z. Zhang, L. Dai, X. Chen, C. Liu, F. Yang, R. Schober, and H. V. Poor

    IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 1707–1725, Mar. 2023.

    (ESI Top 0.1% Hot Paper & ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper)

    Paper Code DOI
  2. A cell-free wireless network with distributed base stations and intelligent surfaces
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 3
    J2

    A Joint Precoding Framework for Wideband Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Cell-Free Network

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 69, pp. 4085–4101, 2021.

    (ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper & IEEE SPS Best Paper Award)

    Paper Code DOI
  3. Continuous-aperture MIMO surfaces serving users around a building
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 1
    J3

    Pattern-Division Multiplexing for Multi-User Continuous-Aperture MIMO

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 2350–2366, Aug. 2023.

    Paper Code DOI
  4. Active and silent nodes in an asynchronous ranging network and their range geometry
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 1
    J4

    Signal-Multiplexing Ranging for Network Localization

    Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, J. Wang, and Y. Shen

    IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 1694–1709, Mar. 2022.

    Paper Code DOI
  5. Intelligent surfaces directing wireless signals to vehicles and pedestrians
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 2
    J5

    Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for 6G: Nine Fundamental Issues and One Critical Problem

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    Tsinghua Science and Technology, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 929–939, Oct. 2023.

    (TST Best Paper Award & TST Excellent Paper Award)

    Paper Code DOI
  6. Fluid antennas selecting receiving ports for uplink channel estimation
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 3
    J6

    Successive Bayesian Reconstructor for Channel Estimation in Fluid Antenna Systems

    Z. Zhang, J. Zhu, L. Dai, and R. W. Heath, Jr.

    IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1992–2006, Mar. 2025.

    (ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper)

    Paper Code DOI
  7. Two-dimensional ice-filling pilot allocation illustrated with ice blocks
    Fig. 2(a) · PDF p. 8
    J7

    Observation Matrix Design for Densifying MIMO Channel Estimation via 2D Ice Filling

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui

    IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 74, pp. 798–814, 2026.

    Paper DOI
  8. Comparison of conventional MIMO and holographic MIMO channel gains in spatial, angular, and wavenumber domains.
    Fig. 2 · PDF p. 3
    J8

    Wavenumber-Domain Signal Processing for Holographic MIMO: Foundations, Methods, and Future Directions

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 127–133, Jun. 2026.

    Paper DOI
  9. Channel estimation NMSE versus SNR comparing ARMO with kernel training, ideal-kernel ARMO, ice filling, MMSE, LS, and OMP.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 5
    J9

    Enhancing Channel Estimation in RIS-aided Systems via Observation Matrix Design

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui

    IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Early Access, 2026.

    Paper DOI
  10. Ice-filling panel from the comparison with water-filling, illustrating discrete pilot allocation as ice blocks over the prior-kernel eigenmodes.
    Fig. 3 (ice-filling panel) · PDF p. 6
    J10

    Ice-Filling: Near-Optimal Channel Estimation for Dense Array Systems

    M. Cui, Z. Zhang*, L. Dai, and K. Huang

    IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 8551–8564, Oct. 2025.

    Paper Code DOI
  11. Narrowband and wideband active RIS architectures showing their phase-shift circuits and amplifier groups.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 2
    J11

    Wideband Active RISs: Architecture, Modeling, and Beamforming Design

    J. Zhang, Z. Li, and Z. Zhang*

    IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 1899–1903, Jul. 2023.

    Paper DOI
  12. Customer-premises equipment and the proposed multilayer user-side RIS construction with absorbing materials and supporting structure.
    Fig. 2 · PDF p. 3
    J12

    Compact User-Specific Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Uplink Transmission

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and L. Hanzo

    IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 680–692, Jan. 2022.

    Paper Code DOI
  13. Comparison of fully connected and sub-connected active RIS architectures with grouped power amplifiers.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 2
    J13

    Active Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface: Fully-Connected or Sub-Connected?

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, S. Xu, and F. Yang

    IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 167–171, Jan. 2022.

    (ESI Top 1% Highly Cited Paper)

    Paper Code DOI
  14. Integrated localization and sensing network showing direct and reflected signal paths and the relation between absolute and sum ranges.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 1
    J14

    A Signal-Multiplexing Ranging Scheme for Integrated Localization and Sensing

    H. Zhao, Z. Zhang, J. Wang, Z. Zhang, and Y. Shen

    IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1609–1613, Aug. 2022.

    Paper DOI
  15. Cooperative localization framework for connected automated vehicles, including network measuring, synchronization, ranging, and localization.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 2
    J15

    Enhancing Timeliness in Asynchronous Vehicle Localization: A Signal-Multiplexing Network Measuring Approach

    H. Zhao, Z. Zhang, L. Xu, Y. Wang, and Y. Shen

    IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 13729–13743, Oct. 2024.

    Paper DOI
  16. System model of a RIS-assisted cell-free network with access points, users, and multi-hop reflection paths.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 3
    J16

    Joint Beamforming Design for RIS-Assisted Cell-Free Network with Multi-Hop Transmissions

    D. Shen, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    Tsinghua Science and Technology, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1115–1127, Dec. 2023.

    Paper DOI
  17. Electromagnetic communication model between continuous source and destination regions connected by a Green function.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 2
    J17

    Mutual Information for Electromagnetic Information Theory Based on Random Fields

    Z. Wan, J. Zhu, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and C. B. Chae

    IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 1982–1996, Apr. 2023.

    Paper Code DOI
  18. Comparison of far-field search, near-field exhaustive search, and two-dimensional hierarchical beam training.
    Fig. 2 · PDF p. 8
    J18

    Hierarchical Beam Training for Extremely Large-Scale MIMO: From Far-Field to Near-Field

    Y. Lu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 2247–2259, Apr. 2024.

    Paper Code DOI
  19. Illustration of near-field and far-field beam training in an extremely large-scale MIMO system.
    Fig. 1 · PDF p. 3
    J19

    Near-Optimal Near-Field Beam Training: From Searching to Inference

    Z. Xu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 9173–9185, Nov. 2025.

    Paper [Code unavailable] DOI
  20. Estimated three-dimensional radio maps at heights of 1, 15, and 30 meters with building footprints and signal strength.
    Fig. 5 · PDF p. 5
    J20

    High-Efficiency Urban 3D Radio Map Estimation Based on Sparse Measurements

    X. Chen, X. Zhong, Z. Zhang, L. Dai, and S. Zhou

    IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 74, no. 10, pp. 16488–16493, Oct. 2025.

    Paper DOI
  21. Experimental workflow of AI-driven Rydberg OFDM communications with a trained joint source-channel coding model and image transmission.
    Fig. 3 · PDF p. 5
    J21

    Rydberg Atomic Receivers for Net-Zero 6G Wireless Communication and Sensing: Progress, Experiments, and Sustainable Prospects

    Y. Tao, Z. Gao, Z. Zhu, D. Mi, Z. Wu, Z. Zhang, F. Zhang, D. Zheng, and S. Chen

    IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 64, no. 8, pp. 52–59, Aug. 2026.

    Paper DOI

Conference Papers

  1. C1

    Active RISs: Signal Modeling, Asymptotic Analysis, and Beamforming Design

    Z. Zhang, L. Dai, X. Chen, C. Liu, F. Yang, R. Schober, and H. V. Poor

    in Proc. 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2022), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. 1618–1624, Dec. 2022.

    Paper Code DOI
  2. C2

    Pattern-Division Multiplexing for Continuous-Aperture MIMO

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2022 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2022), Seoul, South Korea, pp. 3287–3292, May 2022.

    (ComSoc Student Grant)

    Paper Code DOI
  3. C3

    Capacity Improvement in Wideband Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Cell-Free Network

    Z. Zhang and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2020 IEEE 21st International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC 2020), Atlanta, GA, USA, pp. 1–5, May 2020.

    Paper Code DOI
  4. C4

    High-Efficient Ranging Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Network

    Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, and Y. Shen

    in Proc. 2019 11th International Conference on Wireless Communications and Signal Processing (WCSP 2019), Xi’an, China, pp. 1–6, Oct. 2019.

    Paper DOI
  5. C5

    Successive Bayesian Reconstructor for FAS Channel Estimation

    Z. Zhang, J. Zhu, L. Dai, and R. W. Heath, Jr.

    in Proc. 2024 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC 2024), Dubai, United Arab Emirates, pp. 1–5, Apr. 2024.

    Paper Code DOI
  6. C6

    Two-Dimensional Ice Filling Based Channel Estimation in Densifying MIMO Systems

    Z. Zhang and M. Cui

    in Proc. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2025), Montreal, Canada, pp. 4750–4755, Jun. 2025.

    Paper Supplementary Materials DOI
  7. C7

    User-Side RIS: Realizing Large-Scale Array at User Side

    K. Liu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2021 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2021), Madrid, Spain, pp. 1–6, Dec. 2021.

    Paper Code DOI
  8. C8

    On The Energy-Efficiency Fairness of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Cell-Free Network

    K. Liu and Z. Zhang*

    in Proc. 2021 IEEE 93rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC 2021-Spring), Helsinki, Finland, pp. 1–6, Apr. 2021.

    Paper DOI
  9. C9

    Channel Estimation for Dense Array Systems via Ice-Filling

    M. Cui, Z. Zhang*, L. Dai, and K. Huang

    in Proc. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops (ICC Workshops 2025), Montreal, Canada, pp. 794–799, Jun. 2025.

    Paper DOI
  10. C10

    On Finite-Time Mutual Information

    J. Zhu, Z. Zhang, Z. Wan, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT 2022), Espoo, Finland, pp. 2910–2915, Jun. 2022.

    Paper Code DOI
  11. C11

    Channel Estimation for Non-Stationary Extremely Large-Scale MIMO

    Y. Chen, Z. Zhang, M. Cui, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2023 IEEE 97th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC 2023-Spring), Florence, Italy, pp. 1–5, Jun. 2023.

    Paper DOI
  12. C12

    Near-Field 2D Hierarchical Beam Training for Extremely Large-Scale MIMO

    Y. Lu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2023 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2023), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 7176–7181, Dec. 2023.

    Paper DOI
  13. C13

    Distance-Aware Precoding for Near-Field Capacity Improvement in XL-MIMO

    Z. Wu, M. Cui, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2022 IEEE 95th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC 2022-Spring), Helsinki, Finland, pp. 1–5, Jun. 2022.

    Paper Code DOI
  14. C14

    Low-Overhead Near-Field Beam Training Based on Bayesian Regression

    Z. Xu, Z. Zhang, and L. Dai

    in Proc. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2025), Montreal, Canada, pp. 1724–1729, Jun. 2025.

    Paper DOI

Demos & Other Contributions

  1. O1

    Active reconfigurable intelligent surface aided wireless communication prototype

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Z. Peng, and L. Dai

    Demonstration at 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2022), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 2022.

    Slides
  2. O2

    Active reconfigurable intelligent surface aided wireless communication prototype

    Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, Z. Wu, Y. Lu, Z. Wan, and L. Dai

    Demonstration at 2023 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM 2023), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dec. 2023.

  3. O3

    Tinker@Home 2019 team description paper

    J. Huo, X. Han, J. Bi, H. Ma, R. Ma, C. Xu, L. Ye, H. Zhang, T. Zhang, Z. Zhang, and Y. Jiang

    Team description paper, RoboCup@Home 2019, Open Platform League, 2019.

    Paper VideoOfficial archive

International Patents

  1. IP1

    Low-power-consumption reconfigurable intelligent surface hardware structure, and precoding method and apparatus

    中文名称：低功耗的智能超表面硬件结构、预编码方法及装置

    K. Liu, L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Xu, and F. Yang

    PCT international patent application · Application no.: PCT/CN2022/102301
    Application publication: WO2023071264A1 · 4 May 2023

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  2. IP2

    Wireless telecommunications network

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao

    PCT international patent application · Application no.: PCT/CN2021/077059
    Application publication: WO2022174418A1 · 25 Aug. 2022

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  3. IP3

    Resource allocation and precoding method and apparatus for cell-free network capable of achieving energy efficiency equilibrium

    中文名称：能效公平无蜂窝网络的资源分配及预编码方法与装置

    K. Liu, L. Dai, and Z. Zhang

    PCT international patent application · Application no.: PCT/CN2021/112812
    Application publication: WO2022262104A1 · 22 Dec. 2022

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  4. IP4

    Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface

    中文名称（中国同族）：包括多层透射可重新配置智能表面的无线电信网络

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao

    PCT international patent application · Application no.: PCT/EP2022/051724
    Application publication: WO2022175035A1 · 25 Aug. 2022

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  5. IP5

    Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface

    中文名称（中国同族）：包括多层透射可重新配置智能表面的无线电信网络

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao

    U.S. patent · Application no.: US18/277,668
    Application publication: US20240039592A1 · 1 Feb. 2024

    Granted Grant publication: US12028139B2 · 2 Jul. 2024

    Patent recordPatent document
  6. IP6

    Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigureable intelligent surface

    中文名称（中国同族）：包括多层透射可重新配置智能表面的无线电信网络

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao

    European patent · Application no.: EP22704879.0
    Application publication: EP4295492A1 · 27 Dec. 2023

    Granted Grant publication: EP4295492B1 · 9 Oct. 2024

    Patent recordPatent document

Chinese Patents

  1. CN1

    Resource allocation and precoding method and apparatus for energy-efficiency fairness in cell-free networks

    中文名称：能效公平无蜂窝网络的资源分配及预编码方法与装置

    K. Liu, L. Dai, and Z. Zhang

    Chinese patent application · Application no.: CN202110673957.2
    Application publication: CN113473499A · 1 Oct. 2021

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  2. CN2

    Low-power intelligent metasurface hardware structure, precoding method, and apparatus

    中文名称：低功耗的智能超表面硬件结构、预编码方法及装置

    K. Liu, L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Xu, and F. Yang

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202111271506.2
    Application publication: CN114040478A · 11 Feb. 2022

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202111271506.2
    Grant publication: CN114040478B · 31 Dec. 2024

    Patent recordPatent document
  3. CN3

    Joint positioning method and system for wireless networks

    中文名称：一种无线网络联合定位方法及系统

    Y. Shen, H. Zhao, and Z. Zhang

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202110138213.0
    Application publication: CN112887906A · 1 Jun. 2021

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202110138213.0
    Grant publication: CN112887906B · 11 Mar. 2022

    Patent recordPatent document
  4. CN4

    Relative positioning method for dynamic networks

    中文名称：一种动态网络相对定位方法

    Y. Shen, Z. Zhang, X. Li, C. Xu, F. Ge, and Q. Zhi

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN201810258348.9
    Application publication: CN108469600A · 31 Aug. 2018

    Granted Patent no.: ZL201810258348.9
    Grant publication: CN108469600B · 30 Jun. 2020

    Patent recordPatent document
  5. CN5

    Network ranging method and apparatus

    中文名称：一种网络测距方法及装置

    Y. Shen, Z. Zhang, H. Zhao, and J. Wang

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202010052977.3
    Application publication: CN111262755A · 9 Jun. 2020

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202010052977.3
    Grant publication: CN111262755B · 9 Nov. 2021

    Patent recordPatent document
  6. CN6

    Motion planning and cooperative positioning method and apparatus for unmanned vehicle formations

    中文名称：无人车网络编队的运动规划和协作定位方法及装置

    Y. Shen, X. Li, C. Xu, Z. Zhang, F. Ge, and Q. Zhi

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN201810433350.5
    Application publication: CN108664024A · 16 Oct. 2018

    Granted Patent no.: ZL201810433350.5
    Grant publication: CN108664024B · 25 Sep. 2020

    Patent recordPatent document
  7. CN7

    Codebook generation method, channel estimation method, apparatus, and storage medium

    中文名称：码本生成方法、信道估计方法、设备和存储介质

    L. Dai, M. Cui, Z. Zhang, S. Suo, H. Qin, and X. Su

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202210112147.4
    Application publication: CN116566446A · 8 Aug. 2023

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202210112147.4
    Grant publication: CN116566446B · 5 Sep. 2025

    Patent recordApplication document
  8. CN8

    Method and apparatus for determining a phase-shift matrix

    中文名称：移相矩阵的确定方法及装置

    L. Dai, Z. Zhang, S. Suo, X. Yang, L. Song, and X. Su

    Chinese patent application · Application no.: CN202211578453.3
    Application publication: CN118174757A · 11 Jun. 2024

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  9. CN9

    RIS and precoding method and apparatus for RIS-assisted OFDM communication systems

    中文名称：RIS及其辅助OFDM通信系统的预编码方法和装置

    L. Dai, J. Zhang, and Z. Zhang

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202310539494.X
    Application publication: CN116260501A · 13 Jun. 2023

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202310539494.X
    Grant publication: CN116260501B · 14 Jul. 2023

    Patent recordPatent document
  10. CN10

    Distributed positioning and synchronization method for dynamic scenarios

    中文名称：一种动态场景分布式定位与同步方法

    Y. Shen, H. Zhao, H. Gao, and Z. Zhang

    Chinese patent application · Application no.: CN202410254042.1
    Application publication: CN118368017A · 19 Jul. 2024

    Published application

    Patent recordPatent document
  11. CN11

    Wireless telecommunications network including a multi-layer transmissive reconfigurable intelligent surface

    中文名称：包括多层透射可重新配置智能表面的无线电信网络

    L. Dai, K. Liu, Z. Zhang, R. Mackenzie, and M. Hao

    Chinese patent · Application no.: CN202280015597.X
    Application publication: CN116868518A · 10 Oct. 2023

    Granted Patent no.: ZL202280015597.X
    Grant publication: CN116868518B · 27 Sep. 2024

    Patent recordPatent document