While researchers have set their sights on future wireless networks of 2030, communications through reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) appears as one of the potential enabling technologies for 6G wireless networking. This article aims to shed light on the potential use-cases of RISs in future wireless systems by means of a novel channel modeling methodology as well as a new software tool for RIS-empowered millimeter-wave communication systems. It is shown by the open-source, user-friendly, and widely applicable SimRIS Channel Simulator, whose 2.0 version is proposed and goes online by this article, that RISs will work under certain use-cases and communication environments. Potential future research directions are also discussed to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of RIS-empowered systems toward their standardization for 6G wireless networks.

中文翻译：

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未来无线网络的可重构智能表面：信道建模视角

虽然研究人员已经将目光投向了 2030 年的未来无线网络，但通过可重构智能表面 (RIS) 进行的通信似乎是 6G 无线网络的潜在支持技术之一。本文旨在通过一种新颖的信道建模方法以及用于 RIS 支持的毫米波通信系统的新软件工具，阐明 RIS 在未来无线系统中的潜在用例。本文提出并上线的开源、用户友好、广泛适用的SimRIS Channel Simulator 2.0版本表明，RIS将在某些用例和通信环境下工作。