4774 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 70, NO.

6, JUNE 2022

Simultaneous in situ Direction Finding and Field

Manipulation Based on Space-Time-Coding
Digital Metasurface
Jun Yan Dai , Wankai Tang , Member, IEEE, Manting Wang , Ming Zheng Chen,
Qiang Cheng , Senior Member, IEEE, Shi Jin , Senior Member, IEEE, Tie Jun Cui , Fellow, IEEE,
and Chi Hou Chan , Fellow, IEEE

Abstract— The smart radio environment has become an angle detected simultaneously. The proposed concept sets the
eye-catching topic and is believed to own great potential in stage for the integrated implementation of the perception and
future wireless networks. Its essential demand lies in sensing response of the radio environment, which may find promising
and manipulating the electromagnetic (EM) fields accurately and applications in future intelligent wireless networks and self-
simultaneously with the same aperture, which is hard to achieve adaptive systems.
using conventional methods due to the difficulty in integrating
different systems. We propose a millimeter-wave space–time- Index Terms— Direction finding, direction of arrival (DOA)
coding digital metasurface (STCM) to realize simultaneous in situ estimation, electromagnetic (EM) field manipulation, metasur-
direction finding and field manipulation. An analytic method of face, space–time-coding digital metasurface (STCM).
direction finding is first developed using the STCM modulated by
a space–time-coding (STC) matrix while maintaining its original I. I NTRODUCTION
capability of EM field manipulations. In addition, three STC
matrices corresponding to different EM functions are applied to
the STCM to verify the feasibility and robustness of direction
W ITH the development of sixth-generation (6G) wireless
communications networks, we envision a new platform
paradigm that integrates communication, sensing, localiza-
findings experimentally. Finally, a proof-of-concept prototype is
built to exhibit different EM functions according to the incident tion, and recognition while ensuring high throughput, low
latency, and high stability [1]. The integration of commu-
Manuscript received June 10, 2021; revised December 5, 2021; accepted nication and perception can not only reduce the signaling
December 5, 2021. Date of publication January 28, 2022; date of current overhead during acquiring channel state information (CSI)
version June 13, 2022. This work was supported in part by the Hong in wireless networks [2] but also provide additional func-
Kong Research Grants Council Theme-Based Research Scheme under Grant
T42-103/16-N; in part by the National Key Research and Development tions to further construct a smart radio environment [1]. One
Program of China under Grant 2018YFA0701904, Grant 2017YFA0700201, of the pivotal factors for implementation lies in detecting
Grant 2017YFA0700202, and Grant 2017YFA0700203; in part by the National the propagation direction of electromagnetic (EM) waves,
Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61631007, Grant 61722106,
Grant 61731010, Grant 61531011, Grant 61941104, and Grant 11227904; also known as direction finding or direction-of-arrival (DOA)
in part by the 111 Project under Grant 111-2-05; and in part by the Key estimation, which is usually accomplished by multifarious
Research and Development Program of Shandong Province under Grant array-based receiving systems and has been widely used in
2020CXGC010108. (Jun Yan Dai and Wankai Tang contributed equally to
this work.) (Corresponding author: Chi Hou Chan.) a variety of applications in EM environment management
Jun Yan Dai is with the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, such as localization, channel sounding and estimation, radar
Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China, and also with the State Key tracking, and surveillance [3]–[7].
Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong 999077 (e-mail: [email protected]). However, common solutions that simply combine sensing
Wankai Tang is with the National Mobile Communications Research Lab- and response systems usually lack fast in situ responses
oratory, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China. to the EM environment because the two systems are still
Manting Wang and Chi Hou Chan are with the State Key Laboratory of
Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong separated and difficult to implement simultaneous detecting
999077 (e-mail: [email protected]). and manipulation of EM waves on the same aperture [2],
Ming Zheng Chen is with the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, [3]. In addition, the interaction between the two systems
Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China, and also with the Institute of
Electromagnetic Space, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China. may cause the EM compatibility issues and increase the
Qiang Cheng and Tie Jun Cui are with the State Key Laboratory of pressure on the central processing and management networks.
Millimeter Waves, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China, also with More importantly, the typical systems suffer from the intense
the Institute of Electromagnetic Space, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096,
China, and also with the Pazhou Laboratory, Guangzhou 510330, China calculation, expensive hardware, complex architecture, and
(e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]). high power consumption since many classic DOA estima-
Shi Jin is with the National Mobile Communications Research Labora- tion algorithms, such as the estimation of signal parameters
tory, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China, also with the Institute
of Electromagnetic Space, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China, via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT) [8], multiple
and also with the Pazhou Laboratory, Guangzhou 510330, China (e-mail: signal classification (MUSIC) [9], and maximum likelihood
[email protected]). (ML)-based methods [10], require the equipment of massive
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2022.3145445. arrays and usage of multichannel transceivers for beam synthe-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2022.3145445 sis and channel information collection [3]–[5]. Therefore, it
0018-926X © 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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 DAI et al.: SIMULTANEOUS IN SITU DIRECTION FINDING AND FIELD MANIPULATION 4775

is imperative to exploit a highly integrated, simply practicable,

and cost-effective system that simultaneously performs instant
direction finding and adaptive EM functions in real time.
To achieve these goals, metasurface, a 2-D artificial struc-
ture consisting of periodic or quasi-periodic subwavelength
meta-atoms, can be considered a potential candidate. Due to
their low loss, ultrathin thickness, and easy integration, meta-
surfaces have yielded multifarious phenomena and devices
from microwave to optical regimes [11]–[21]. The digital
version of metasurface, coding metasurface (CM), uses a
digitalized coding sequence composed of digital bits “0” and
“1” to, respectively, characterize the meta-atoms with opposite
reflection phases (such as 0◦ and 180◦), thereby building
a bridge between the metasurface physics and information
science [22]. The CM can obtain dynamical controllability
by integrating active devices into the meta-atoms, such as
positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) diodes, semiconductors, and
functional materials [23]–[26]. CM can generally perform the
coding process in both space and time domains to modulate Fig. 1. Schematic of the simultaneous in situ direction finding and field
its parameters. The former utilizes space-coding sequences for manipulating based on STCM. With the capability of direction finding, the
spatial phase profile synthesis to manipulate the propagation STCM is able to present different field manipulation functions adaptively
according to the incident angles of the EM waves.
behaviors of EM waves [24]–[28], while the latter uses time-
coding sequences for temporal phase waveform regulation
an integrated closed-loop system can be further built with the
to control the spectral distributions of EM waves [29]–[32].
DOA estimation as the feedback to control the EM wave in a
In addition, the coding sequences of these two distinct
self-adaptive manner. Such configuration exhibits the advan-
dimensions can be further combined into a 2-D matrix,
tages that, on the one hand, in terms of direction finding, the
i.e., space–time-coding (STC) matrix, to realize simultaneous
proposed system is simpler and more cost-effective compared
manipulation of the spatial and spectral properties of EM
to the conventional array-based multichannel DOA estimation
waves [33]–[36].
systems as only one single radio frequency (RF) channel is
Some metasurface platforms have already been fur-
required. On the other hand, system integration features more
ther developed into full-duplex systems with self-adaptive
space-saving and better EM compatibility since no additional
functions by equipping field-programmable gate array
sensing circuit will be introduced on the metasurface interface.
(FPGA)-based control circuits and feedback links composed
The proposed system paves a simple way in integrating EM
of sensors, signal processors, detection systems, and so
wave detection and manipulation and, therefore, can facilitate
on [37]–[44]. In particular, Qian et al. [41] recently proposed a
the development of advanced imaging, radar, and wireless
deep-learning-based method to realize self-adaptive microwave
communications systems.
cloak under different illumination angles. A mechanical
The rest of this article is organized as follows. Section II
scanning system is used to provide the algorithm with the
elaborates the direction-finding method based on STCM with
peak-level direction. In addition, Lin et al. [42] integrated
detailed derivations. Section III presents the basic charac-
compressive sensing DOA estimation and programmable
teristics of the fabricated STCM as well as the designed
beamforming into the same metasurface for self-adaptive beam
STC matrices. In Section IV, the experimental verification of
steering. They can program the beam direction after estimating
direction finding and the implementation of a proof-of-concept
the incident angle. However, although these nice works have
prototype are demonstrated. The conclusions are drawn in
realized self-adaptive functions through DOA estimation, their
Section V.
sensing and response systems are still separated in either
space or time domain. The integration of fast, in situ, and II. D IRECTION -F INDING M ETHOD BASED ON STCM
simultaneous direction finding and field manipulation in a We start the investigation by considering a metasurface that
single platform is still unavailable. Furthermore, it also faces is composed of N columns of meta-atoms integrated with p-i-n
other realistic problems, such as reserving an extra room diodes, whose reflection phase can be dynamically switched in
for the sensing circuits and the consequent inevitable EM a programmable manner by digital codes via the FPGA-based
compatibility issues. control platform. According to our previous studies [45], [46],
This article proposes a space–time-coding digital metasur- when the metasurface is obliquely illuminated by a monochro-
face (STCM)-based system to implement simultaneous in situ matic wave E i (t) = e j 2π f c t with an incident angle of θi , the
direction finding and field manipulation in the millimeter-wave corresponding far-field scattering pattern in the time domain
band. Our approach offers a simple solution to realize direction can be written as
finding by analyzing the spectral scattering properties of 
N
E p (θ ) p (t)e j λc ( p−1)d(sin θ +sin θi )
2π
STCM without any influence on its original capability in EM f (θ, t) = (1)
field manipulation [45], [46]. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 1, p=1

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 4776 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 70, NO. 6, JUNE 2022

where E p (θ ) is the scattering pattern of the pth column can be obtained as

of meta-atoms at frequency fc , which can be approximately ⎧
defined as cos θ for simplicity, λc = c/ f c is the wavelength of ⎪
⎪ N
sin θi
⎪
⎪ F (0 ◦
) = a kp1 e j 2π( p−1)d λc
incident wave with c denoting the light speed in vacuum, and ⎪
⎪ k 1
⎪
⎪
d is the period of meta-atom. In addition,  p (t) represents ⎪
⎪
p=1
⎪
⎪ N
the reflection coefficient of the pth column of meta-atoms ⎪
⎪
sin θi
⎨ Fk2 (0◦ ) = a kp2 e j 2π( p−1)d λc
modulated by the periodic time-coding sequence, which is p=1 (8)
expressed as ⎪
⎪ ..
⎪
⎪
  ⎪.
⎪
⎪

L
T ⎪
⎪
 p (t) = lp G t − (l − 1) , 0≤t≤T (2) ⎪
⎪ 
N
⎪
⎪ (0 ◦
) =
sin θi
a kpM e j 2π( p−1)d λc
l=1
L ⎪
⎩ MF k
p=1
where lp is the lth time code in the sequence with the length
of L, T is the period of  p (t), and G[t − (l − 1)(T /L)] is a It is easy to transform the above equation set into the matrix
basic impulse function defined as form shown in the following:
⎧ ⎡ ⎤
⎨ T
1, 0 ≤ t ≤ 1
G(t) = L (3) ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎢ ⎥
⎩ 0, else Fk1 (0◦ ) a1k1 a2k1 ··· a kN1 ⎢ sin θi ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ j 2π d ⎥
⎢ Fk2 (0◦ ) ⎥ ⎢ a1k2 a2k2 ··· a kN2 ⎥⎢ e λc ⎥
By performing the Fourier series expansion on the periodic ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢
⎢
⎥
⎥.
⎢ .. ⎥=⎢ . .. .. ⎥ ..
function  p (t), it can be decomposed into a series of harmon- ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ . .. ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎣ . ⎦ ⎣ . . . . ⎦⎢
⎢ . ⎥
⎥
ics with the frequency interval of f 0 = 1/T ◦ ⎢ sin θi ⎥
Fk M (0 ) k k
a1 a2 M
M
··· a kNM ⎣ ⎦
j 2π(N −1)d
∞
 e λc
 p (t) = a kp e j 2π k f0 t (4)
(9)
k=−∞

where k is the harmonic order, f 0  f c to guarantee the Succinctly, (9) can be expressed as
validity of (1) [14], and a kp represents the corresponding
complex Fourier coefficient given by −
→ →
−
F =Aθ (10)
 
L

1 πk − jπk
2l−1
−
→ → −
a kp = Sa lp e L (5) in which F , θ , and A are, respectively, defined as follows:
L L l=1
⎧−→  T
with Sa(·) the sampling function. Furthermore, as each column ⎪
⎪ F = F (0 ◦
) F (0 ◦
) · · · F (0 ◦
)
⎪
⎪ k1 k2 kM
of the meta-atoms is applied with an independent time-coding ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪  T
sequence, the entire metasurface can be characterized in terms ⎪
⎪ sin θi sin θi
⎪ →
−
⎪ θ = j 2π(N −1)d
of an STC matrix accordingly [35]. Substituting (4) into ⎪
⎪
j 2π d
λc λc
⎪
⎪ 1 e ··· e
(1), the far-field scattering pattern at the kth-order harmonic ⎨
⎡ k ⎤
frequency f c + k f 0 can be written as a11 a2k1 · · · a kN1 (11)
⎪
⎪ ⎢ k ⎥
⎪
⎪ ⎢ a 2 a k2 · · · a k2 ⎥

N
 ⎪
⎪ ⎢ N ⎥
sin θ
+
sin θi
⎪
⎪ 1 2
A=⎢ ⎥
j 2π( p−1)d
Fk (θ ) = E p (θ )a kp e λk λc
(6) ⎪
⎪ ⎢ .. .. .. ⎥.
⎪
⎪ ⎢ .. ⎥
p=1 ⎪
⎪ . . . .
⎪
⎪ ⎣ ⎦
⎩
where λk = c/( f c + k f 0 ) is the wavelength of the kth-order kM kM
a1 a2 · · · a N kM

harmonics. The expression (6) implies that each harmonic

has an independent scattering pattern controlled by the STC −
→ →
−
F and θ are column vectors with the lengths of M and N,
matrix. In this way, the EM field can be simultaneously
representing the received harmonic signal and phase profile,
manipulated in both spatial and spectral domains, which is
respectively, and A is an M × N complex matrix standing
one of the most iconic functionalities of STCM.
for the harmonic space coefficient. Without loss of generality,
Here, if we place a receiver in the normal direction of
assume that A has a generalized inverse matrix A−1 with the
the metasurface, i.e., θ = 0◦ , then the kth-order harmonic −
→
order of N × M, and then, θ can be calculated by
component in the received signal can be calculated as
−
→ →
−
◦

N
sin θi θ = A−1 F . (12)
Fk (0 ) = a kp e j 2π( p−1)d λc . (7)
p=1 →
−
It is obvious to find out that θ is actually a geo-
Next, we further select several harmonics, namely, k1 , metric progression from its definition in (11) and so
−
→
k2 , . . . , k M , and substituting them into (7), a set of equations is A−1 F . Therefore, the corresponding common ratio

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 DAI et al.: SIMULTANEOUS IN SITU DIRECTION FINDING AND FIELD MANIPULATION 4777

can be simply given by

 →
j 2π(N −1)d
sin θi −1 −
sin θi e λc A F
e j 2π d λc = sin θi =
 →
−
N
j 2π(N −2)d λc −1
e A F
N −1
 −
→ 
−1
A F
= ··· =  →
−
2
(13)
A−1 F
1
−
→ →
−
where [A−1 F ]n denotes the nth element of the vector A−1 F .
Hence, the incident angle can be further obtained as
⎧ ⎡   −1 −→
 ⎤⎫
⎪
⎪ A F ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎢ Im A−1 −→
n+1
⎥⎪
⎪
⎨ λ ⎢ F ⎥⎬
−1 c −1 ⎢ ⎥ ,
θi = sin tan ⎢   − 
n n
→  ⎥⎪
⎪
⎪ 2πd ⎣ A−1 F ⎦⎪
⎪
⎪   ⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎭
n+1
Re →
−
A−1 F Fig. 2. (a) Diagram of the entire STCM with the detailed geometric
n
parameters and materials of the meta-atom shown in the inset. (b) Simulated
n = 1, . . . , N − 1 (14) reflection amplitude and phase responses of the meta-atom under x-polarized
incidence with ON-/ OFF-states of the p-i-n diode. (c) Basic experimental
where Im(·) and Re(·) represent the imaginary and real parts, configuration of the millimeter-wave anechoic chamber with the illustration
respectively, sin−1 (·) and tan−1 (·) are the inverse functions of of the fabricated sample. (d) Measured results of the metasurface with two
different states of the p-i-n diode.
the sine function and the tangent function, respectively, and
n is the index for the N− 1 calculations. Theoretically, the
N− 1 results of θin should be the same. However, considering
controls of meta-atoms in different columns. The detailed
the possible noise introduced from measurement, device, and
geometrical parameters of the meta-atom are listed as follows:
environment, the mean value of θin is chosen as the final
Px = 5 mm, Py = 5 mm, h = 1.59 mm, s = 1 mm, l =
estimation of θi , namely
4.5 mm, w = 1.7 mm, g = 0.6 mm, and the diameter of via
 N −1 n
θ is 0.5 mm. A p-i-n diode (MACOM MADP-000907-14020)
θe = n=1 i . (15) is soldered in the gap between the strip and the patch. Due
N −1
to the great features of the p-i-n diode, such as low series
In addition, angle ambiguity may emerge in the phase of the
resistance, low capacitance, and high switching speed, it is
exponential function of (13), i.e., 2πd((sin θi /λc )). To avoid
a good candidate for the meta-atom to achieve digital EM
this, it must satisfy the following condition:
 responses in the millimeter-wave band [47].
sin θi With the aid of commercial software, CST Microwave
−π ≤ 2πd ≤ π. (16)
λc Studio 2016, full-wave simulations are performed to obtain the
It can be simply inferred from (16) that if d < λc /2, there meta-atom’s reflection amplitude and phase responses under
is no angle ambiguity when the incident angle varies from the x-polarized incidence with ON-/ OFF -states of the p-i-n
−π/2 to π/2. It is also worth emphasizing that the periods of diode. During the simulation, the p-i-n diode is modeled as
most meta-atom designs can easily satisfy this requirement, an RLC series circuit with different equivalent parameters
making the STCM very suitable for this new direction-finding according to the biasing state [47]. The simulation results
approach. corresponding to two p-i-n diode states are plotted in Fig. 2(b),
which shows high reflection amplitudes with a stable phase
difference of 180◦ from 23 to 25 GHz.
III. BASIC C HARACTERISTICS OF THE STCM AND THE
Based on the proposed design, an STCM composed of
STC M ATRICES
10 × 10 meta-atoms is fabricated using the standard printed
A. Fabrication and Measurement of the STCM circuit board (PCB) technology, which is shown in the inset of
To validate our proposed simultaneous wave detection and Fig. 2(c). The total size of the metasurface is 72 × 76 mm2 ,
manipulation system, a millimeter-wave STCM is designed including the biasing network. The column of p-i-n diodes
and fabricated, which integrates p-i-n diodes to obtain 1 bit shown in the inset is biased with the same voltage from
phase coding property from 23 to 25 GHz. Fig. 2(a) shows the vias, which transforms the metasurface into an equivalent
the diagram of the entire metasurface with the inset showing 1 × 10 linear array to fulfill the requirement of our direction-
a specific meta-atom, which is a traditional reflective structure finding method. Fig. 2(c) also shows the basic experimental
that has a dielectric substrate (TLY-5, εr = 2.2 and tan δ = configuration for measurements in the millimeter-wave ane-
0.0009) sandwiched between two copper (Cu) metallic layers. choic chamber. The sample is clamped on a custom fixture
The meta-atom on the top layer consists of a metal strip and with the receiving antenna located on the opposite side of the
a rectangle patch connecting to the grounded bottom layer rotation platform. The biasing signals applied to the metasur-
through a via. Serval narrow lines with a width of 0.2 mm face are implemented by an FPGA-based control platform,
are etched on the bottom metal plane to facilitate independent which is fixed on the rotation platform together with the

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 4778 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 70, NO. 6, JUNE 2022

Fig. 3. (a)–(c) Space–time distributions of the STC Matrices I, II, and III. (d)–(f) Calculated spectral amplitude distributions in the normal direction when the
metasurface is illuminated from 45◦ , −30◦ , and 30◦ with STC Matrices I, II, and III, respectively. (g)–(i) Results of multiorder harmonic scattering patterns
under the corresponding situations, where the green dashed lines indicate the results at fundamental frequency without the STC matrix modulation.

metasurface and the receiving antenna. On the other side of all time-coding sequences are derived from the same basic
the anechoic chamber, the transmitting antenna emits vertically sequence only with different time shifts, which indicates that
polarized millimeter-wave signals toward the metasurface to each sequence in the matrix possesses identical harmonic
mimic plane waves from the far field. A vector network ana- amplitude with different harmonic phases [34]. The basic time-
lyzer (Agilent PNA E8363C) connected to the transmitting and coding sequence can be expressed as
receiving antennas is used to measure the realistic reflection 
spectra of the metasurface under normal incidence. Fig. 2(d) e j π , 1 ≤ l ≤ 16
basic =
l
(17)
shows the measurement results when all the corresponding e j 0 , 17 ≤ l ≤ 32
p-i-n diodes of the metasurface are set to ON- and OFF -
where l is the ordinal number in the time-coding sequence.
states, both of which are further normalized by referring to
Actually, (17) represents a typical square wave with the
a metal plate with the same geometrical sizes. It is obvious
duty cycle of 50%, whose spectrum has nonzero components
that the metasurface owns perfect phase responses with an
only at odd-order harmonics [34], indicating that only these
unfluctuating phase difference around 180◦ between the two
harmonics are suitable for direction finding. Therefore, it is
biasing states, while the agreement between the measured and
better to design the STC Matrix III with the same characteristic
simulated reflection amplitudes is not perfect as the reflection
to maintain consistency and obtain the better performance.
phases due to the inevitable deteriorations caused by the
Without loss of generality, given the rule for each time-coding
parasitic parameters of p-i-n diodes, the dielectric loss of
sequence in STC matrix III as
substrate, and the fabrication tolerance. However, for such a
high-frequency band as millimeter wave, the slight deviation lp = −l+L/2
p = −l+16
p , 1 ≤ l ≤ 16, 1 ≤ p ≤ 10. (18)
from 180◦ (łe ±10◦ ) is acceptable and thus can be further
utilized in verifying our method and prototyping the proof-of- Then, the corresponding Fourier coefficient of the kth-order
concept system. harmonic is obtained according to (5) as
  L
1 πk
lp e− j π k( L )
2l−1
a p = Sa
k
B. Design of the STC Matrices L L l=1
Based on the configuration of STCM, three 10 × 32 2-D 
  l − j π k( 2l−1 )
L/2
1 πk  − jπk
STC matrices are designed for further experimental verifi- = Sa 1−e pe L

cation of our method. As shown in Fig. 3(a)–(c), each row L L l=1

⎧  
stands for the time-coding sequence of the corresponding ⎪
16
⎨ 1 Sa πk lp e− j π k( 32 ) , k = ±1, ±3 . . .
2l−1
position, each column represents the space-coding sequence
= 16 32 l=1
of the corresponding time slot, and the blue and red areas ⎪
⎩
represent the codes of “0” and “1,” respectively. In particular, 0, k = 0, ±2, ±4 . . .
STC Matrices I and II are organized quite orderly since (19)

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 DAI et al.: SIMULTANEOUS IN SITU DIRECTION FINDING AND FIELD MANIPULATION 4779

which guarantees that the fundamental and even-order har-

monic components are zero. Finally, STC Matrix III is
achieved by generating a 10 × 16 random matrix and then
connecting its transformation matrix from (18). In addition,
as the metasurface contains ten meta-atoms, we select ten
harmonics to make the matrix a diagonal matrix for simplicity.
Furthermore, since most of the EM energy is concentrated
on the lower order harmonics under the modulation of STC
matrices, all the odd-order harmonics from −9th to +9th
are considered to get a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in
direction finding.
In particular, to better demonstrate the capabilities of the
STC matrices in field manipulation, three examples are pre-
sented, each of which corresponds to a situation where the
incident angle is 45◦ , −30◦ , and 30◦ and the metasurface
is modulated by STC Matrices I, II, and III, respectively.
The corresponding calculation results of the echo spectra in
the normal direction and the harmonic scattering patterns of
Fig. 4. Measured and calculated spectra distributions of the reflected signal
STCM are shown in Fig. 3(d)–(i). In addition, the scattering when the incident angle is −30◦ , 30◦ , and 45◦ with different STC matrices
patterns of fundamental frequency without STC modulations applied to the STCM: (a)–(c) STC Matrix I, (d)–(f) STC Matrix II, and (g)–(i)
are also shown in Fig. 3(g)–(i) for comparison. Obviously, STC Matrix III.
Fig. 3(g)–(i) shows different EM functions, namely, harmonic
beam steering (STC Matrices I and II) and random scattering TABLE I
(STC Matrix III). D ETAILED E STIMATED A NGLES AND E RRORS B ETWEEN THE
E STIMATIONS AND A CTUAL VALUES

IV. M EASUREMENT R ESULTS

A. Experiment of Direction Finding
To verify the feasibility of our method, the experiment of
direction finding is conducted at 24 GHz using the fabricated
STCM and designed STC matrices. According to the deriva-
tion in Section II, it is essential to obtain the spectra of EM platform, will also reflect the incident wave to the receiving
waves reflected by the STCM in its normal direction. There- antenna, contributing to the received spectrum’s fundamental
fore, with the same experimental configuration as the reflection frequency component. However, it should be noted that this
measurement, we further use the signal generator (Anritsu kind of imperfection will not affect our direction-finding
MG3690C) to feed the 24 GHz millimeter-wave signal to the method very much since the fundamental and even-order
transmitting antenna and use the spectrum analyzer (Keysight harmonics are not considered. As a direct proof, we use a
PXA N9030A) to measure the echo signal from the receiving personal computer (PC) to read the spectral data from the
antenna. The data refresh rate of the control platform is set spectrum analyzer, extract the amplitude and phase infor-
to 2 MHz according to its hardware performance. As the length mation of the required harmonics (all odd-order harmonics
of the STC sequence is 32, the period of each matrix in the from −9th to +9th), and estimate the incident angle with a
time dimension is 16 μs accordingly, which further indicates MATLAB program based on our method. The processing time
that the harmonic interval is 62.5 kHz. for each estimation is about 40 ms. It should be noted that the
First, the incident angle is set to −30◦ , 30◦ , and 45◦ by time consumption can be significantly reduced with digital
controlling the rotation platform. Then, the spectra of the signal processing (DSP) chips. In addition, the detailed results
reflected signals with different STC matrices are measured and corresponding to each experimental condition of Fig. 4 are
summarized in Fig. 4. The corresponding calculation results summarized in Table I, where the estimations are quite close
are also illustrated in each subfigure for comparison. The to the actual values with the absolute errors smaller than 3◦
results demonstrate good consistency between the measure- in all cases.
ments and calculations for the odd-order harmonics used for Next, to evaluate the direction-finding performance of the
the direction-finding process. In addition, it is obvious that method more comprehensively, we further perform several
the fundamental and even-order harmonics still remain in the experiments with the three STC matrices by varying the
measured results, while they should be completely suppressed incident angle from −90◦ to 90◦ under the angle sampling
in the calculations. This is quite common for most STCM interval of 3◦ . The corresponding results are plotted in Fig. 5,
because of the waveform distortion of the practical control sig- in which Fig. 5(a) shows the relationship between the esti-
nal and the inevitable spatiotemporal coupling effect between mated angle and the incident angle with different STC matrices
adjacent meta-atoms [17], [23], [34], [35]. Furthermore, other and Fig. 5(b) shows the absolute error of the estimations. Obvi-
objects in the anechoic chamber, such as fixture and control ously, for the smaller incident angles, the estimated results

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 4780 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 70, NO. 6, JUNE 2022

Fig. 5. (a) Relationship between the estimated angle and the incident angle
for different STC matrices. (b) Absolute error of the estimations, in which
the dashed threshold line stands for an error of 3◦ .

have good consistency with the actual values for all three STC
matrices. For the larger incident angles, on the other hand, the
Fig. 6. Working flowchart of the prototype, in which the green and
estimation errors tend to increase rapidly and monotonically. yellow steps represent the flow of field manipulation and direction finding,
The results also show a slight difference in accuracy among respectively.
the three STC matrices. Specifically, a threshold line of 3◦ is
plotted in Fig. 5(b), under which it is regarded as the coverage matrix A−1 to the direction-finding algorithm. Then, it will
with high estimation accuracy. Therefore, the corresponding →
−
extract the selected harmonic vector F in the received spec-
accurate ranges of the three STC matrices are roughly [−60◦,
trum continuously read from the spectrum analyzer and esti-
60◦ ], [−60◦ , 60◦ ], and [−45◦, 45◦ ]. It is quite understand-
mate θe by executing the direction-finding code. After judging
able, because as the incident angle increases, not only the
the belonging region of θe , the corresponding STC matrix will
realistic reflection response of the meta-atom will deteriorate
be sent to STCM to update its EM function. Meanwhile, the
but also the EM energy of the required harmonics reflected
direction-finding algorithm will use the new A−1 to guarantee
to the receiving antenna will also decrease, both of which
the direction-finding ability in the new situation. Finally, three
lead to the reduction of effective signal power and finally
cases are performed at 24 GHz experimentally with different
reduce the direction-finding performance. Furthermore, since
incident angles (45◦ , −30◦ , and 30◦ ) as illustrative examples,
the STC sequences in Matrix III are more chaotic than those of
which are located in three angle ranges of [37.5◦, 90◦ ], [−90◦,
Matrices I and II, the stronger spatiotemporal mutual coupling
−22.5◦], and [−22.5◦, 37.5◦ ], respectively.
effect between meta-atoms exists, which will more largely
As shown in Fig. 7(a)–(d), the measured harmonic scattering
affect the spectral distribution of the received signal, thereby
patterns under different cases are demonstrated with the corre-
shrinking the accurate range of the direction finding. Overall,
sponding simulation results provided for comparison. CASE I
the results fully illustrate the performance of our direction-
(θi = 45◦ ) indicates an abnormal reflection of the +1st-order
finding method, which is suitable for further demonstrating
harmonic (24.0000625 GHz) with the reflection angle of 0◦ ,
the proof-of-concept prototype.
as shown in Fig. 7(a). CASE II (θi = −30◦ ) presents a similar
function, but the reflection angle of the +1st-order harmonic
B. Demonstration of the Proof-of-Concept Prototype returns back to 45◦ , as shown in Fig. 7(b). CASE III (θi =
As PC enables continuous retrievals of the received spectral 30◦ ) demonstrates a random scattering function that is widely
information from the spectrum analyzer, the existing config- used for radar cross section (RCS) reduction [22]. The corre-
uration has successfully achieved real-time direction finding. sponding scattering pattern of multiorder harmonics is shown
Based on this, another cable is further deployed to connect in Fig. 7(c) and (d). The curves in Fig. 7(c) show reducing EM
the PC and control platform, responsible for sending instruc- energy at the fundamental frequency. The yellow and green
tions to select the STC matrix applied to the metasurface solid lines stand for the measured results with and without the
to control the EM fields. In this way, the final step of the STC matrix applied to the metasurface. In addition, since other
closed-loop chain is accomplished, thereby building a com- objects besides the metasurface can also scatter the incident
plete self-adaptive system of the proof-of-concept prototype. EM wave and interfere with the measurement, we further
For better demonstrating the functionality of the system, the measure the corresponding result without the metasurface as a
upper space of the metasurface is divided into three parts that reference, i.e., the gray line plotted in Fig. 7(c). According to
correspond to the three STC matrices, each of which is applied the measurements, it is reasonable to infer that the metasurface
to the metasurface according to the region that the estimated with the STC matrix III successfully reduces the scattered EM
angle belongs to. When the system judges that the incident energy in the main lobe. In contrast, the energy scattered in the
angle varies across the boundary, it will change the applied remaining directions can be mainly attributed to interference
matrix accordingly in real time. The working flowchart of from other objects.
the proof-of-concept prototype is plotted in Fig. 6. In the Fig. 7(c) shows the measured scattering patterns of multiple
beginning, the host PC will send an instruction to the control harmonics, including the −3rd-order (pink solid line), the
platform to apply the initialized STC matrix (STC Matrix I) −1st-order (blue solid line), the +1st-order (red solid line),
to STCM and provide the corresponding generalized inverse and the +3rd-order (green solid line) harmonics, all of which

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 DAI et al.: SIMULTANEOUS IN SITU DIRECTION FINDING AND FIELD MANIPULATION 4781

to validate measurement results, which demonstrated the

abnormal harmonic reflection and random harmonic scattering
under the illumination from different directions. The proposed
system introduces the capability of direction finding without
using additional sensors. It maintains its original feature of
field manipulations, which takes advantage of fast measure-
ment, easy implementation, space saving, and simple structure.
We envision that the proposed method and technology will
facilitate the development of advanced information systems
in imaging, radar, wireless communication, and other related
areas. It is also worth noting that the working frequency
and implementation type will not restrict the metasurface’s
proposed work and control method. Hence, it is promis-
ing for devising more exciting devices and applications in
the future.

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design, and experiment,” IEEE J. Emerg. Sel. Topics Circuits Syst., tion engineering from Southeast University, Nanjing,
vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 52–61, Mar. 2020. China, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in electromag-
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8PSK wireless transmitter,” Electron. Lett., vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 417–419, Wankai Tang (Member, IEEE) received the B.S.
Apr. 2019. degree in information engineering, the M.S. degree
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less communication by time-domain digital coding metasurface,” IEEE information and communication engineering from
Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 1618–1627, May 2020. Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 2011, 2014,
[32] L. Zhang, Z. Wang, R. Shao, J. Shen, and T. Cui, “Dynamically and 2021, respectively.
realizing arbitrary multi-bit programmable phases using a 2-bit time- He worked with National Instruments, Shanghai,
domain coding metasurface,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol. 68, China, first as an Applications Engineer and then
no. 4, pp. 2984–2992, Apr. 2020. as a Sales Engineer, from 2014 to 2016. His
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“Metasurface-assisted massive backscatter wireless communication with ing of reconfigurable intelligent surface-empowered
commodity Wi-Fi signals,” Nature Commun., vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1–10, wireless communications.
Dec. 2020. Dr. Tang was a recipient of the Electronics Letters Best Paper Award in
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mun., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–11, Dec. 2018.
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on space-time-coding digital metasurface,” Laser Photon. Rev., vol. 14, University of Electronic Science and Technology of
no. 6, Jun. 2020, Art. no. 1900133. China, Chengdu, China, in 2018. She is currently
[37] K. Sun et al., “VO2 thermochromic metamaterial-based smart optical pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
solar reflector,” ACS Photon., vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 2280–2286, Jun. 2018. with the City University of Hong Kong (CityU),
[38] Q. Ma, G. D. Bai, H. B. Jing, C. Yang, L. Li, and T. J. Cui, “Smart Hong Kong.
metasurface with self-adaptively reprogrammable functions,” Light: Sci. Her research interests include reconfigurable meta-
Appl., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1–12, Dec. 2019. surfaces and millimeter-wave antenna design.
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controlled nanosensor switch based on guided-wave surface plasmon
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cloak without human intervention,” Nature Photon., vol. 14, no. 6, tion Science and Engineering, Southeast University,
pp. 383–390, Jun. 2020. Nanjing, China, in 2018, where he is currently
[42] M. Lin et al., “Single sensor to estimate DOA with programmable pursuing the M.S. degree with the State Key Lab-
metasurface,” IEEE Internet Things J., vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 10187–10197, oratory of Millimeter Waves, Department of Radio
Jun. 2021. Engineering.
[43] P. del Hougne, M. F. Imani, M. Fink, D. R. Smith, and G. Lerosey, His research interests include metamaterials, meta-
“Precise localization of multiple noncooperative objects in a disordered surfaces, signal processing, and communication
cavity by wave front shaping,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 121, no. 6, systems.
Aug. 2018, Art. no. 063901.

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 DAI et al.: SIMULTANEOUS IN SITU DIRECTION FINDING AND FIELD MANIPULATION 4783

Qiang Cheng (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Dr. Cui received many honors and awards, including the Research Fellowship
B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Nanjing University from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany in 1995;
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Radio Science
2001 and 2004, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in 1999; the Cheung Kong Professorship from the Ministry of Education,
from Southeast University, Nanjing, in 2008. China, in 2001; the National Science Foundation of China for Distinguished
In 2008, he joined the State Key Laboratory of Young Scholar in 2002; the Special Government Allowance awarded by the
Millimeter Waves, Southeast University, where he Department of State, China, in 2008; and the May 1st Labor Medal from
was involved in the development of metamaterials Chinese Government in 2019. He was a recipient of the Award of Science and
and metadevices. He is currently a Full Professor Technology Progress (Second Class) from the Shaanxi Province Government
with the Radio Department, Southeast University. in 2009, the Award of Natural Science (First Class) from the Ministry of
He leads a group of Ph.D. students and master Education, China, in 2011, the Award of National Natural Science of China
students in the areas of metamaterials, tunable microwaves circuits, microwave (Second Class) in 2014, and the Award of National Natural Science of
imaging, and terahertz systems. He has authored or coauthored more than China (Second Class) in 2018. His research has been selected as one of
100 publications, with citation more than 2000 times. the “Optics in 2016” by Optics and Photonics News Magazine (OSA), Ten
Dr. Cheng was a recipient of the 2010 Best Paper Award from the New Breakthroughs of China Science in 2010, “Best of 2010” in New Journal
Journal of Physics, the China’s Top Ten Scientific Advances of 2010, and of Physics, and Research Highlights in a series of journals. His work has
the Second Class National Natural Science Award in 2014. He served as the been reported by Nature News, Science, MIT Technology Review, Scientific
Vice Chair for the 2008 and 2010 International Workshop on Metamaterials, American, and New Scientists. He served as the General Co-Chair for
Nanjing. International Workshops on Metamaterial in 2008 and 2012, the TPC Co-Chair
for Asian–Pacific Microwave Conference in 2005, and the TPC Co-Chair for
Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium in 2004. He is currently an
Associate Editor of Research and an Editorial Member of National Science
Review, eLight, Advanced Optical Materials, Small Structure, PhotoniX, and
Shi Jin (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.S. Advanced Photonic Research. He was an Associate Editor of the IEEE
degree in communications engineering from the T RANSACTIONS ON G EOSCIENCE AND R EMOTE S ENSING, a Guest Editor
Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, of Research, Science Bulletin, and Science China, and an Editorial Staff of
China, in 1996, the M.S. degree in communication the IEEE A NTENNAS AND P ROPAGATION M AGAz INE. He is one of the most
and information systems from the Nanjing Uni- cited Chinese researchers (ELSEVIER) and a Highly Cited Researcher in
versity of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, physics (Clarivate Web of Science).
China, in 2003, and the Ph.D. degree in commu-
nications and information systems from Southeast
University, Nanjing, in 2007.
From June 2007 to October 2009, he was a
Research Fellow with the Adastral Park Research
Campus, University College London, London, U.K. He is currently with
the Faculty of the National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory,
Southeast University. His research interests include space–time wireless
communications, random matrix theory, and information theory.
Dr. Jin was a recipient of the 2010 Young Author Best Paper Award by the Chi Hou Chan (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.S.
IEEE Signal Processing Society and the 2011 IEEE Communications Society’s and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from The
Stephen O. Rice Prize Paper Award in the field of communication theory. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, in 1981
and 1982, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Illi-
nois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA,
in 1987.
Tie Jun Cui (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.Sc., From 1987 to 1989, he was a Visiting Assis-
M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering tant Professor with the Department of Electrical
from Xidian University, Xi’an, China, in 1987, 1990, and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at
and 1993, respectively. Urbana–Champaign. He joined the Department of
In 1993, he joined the Department of Elec- Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, in 1989,
tromagnetic Engineering, Xidian University, where where he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1993. In 1996,
he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1993. he joined the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of
From 1995 to 1997, he was a Research Fel- Hong Kong (CityU), Hong Kong, as a Professor, where he was promoted
low with the Institut fur Hochstfrequenztechnik to the Chair Professor of electronic engineering in 1998. From 1998 to 2009,
und Elektronik, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, he was first the Associate Dean and then the Dean of the College of Science
Germany. In 1997, he joined the Center for Com- and Engineering, CityU. He served as an Acting Provost of CityU from
putational Electromagnetics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engi- July 2009 to September 2010. He is currently the Director of the State Key
neering, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA, Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, CityU. His current research
first as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate and then as a Research Scien- interests include computational electromagnetics, millimeter-wave circuits and
tist. In 2001, he became a Cheung-Kong Professor at the Department of antennas, and terahertz science and technology.
Radio Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. He is currently the Prof. Chan was elected as an IEEE Fellow in 2002, with the citation of
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chief Professor “for contributions to computational electromagnetics.” He was a recipient
of Southeast University. He is the first author of two books Metamaterials: of the 2019 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Harrington-Mittra
Theory, Design, and Applications (Springer, 2009) and Metamaterials: Beyond Computational Electromagnetics Award for his fundamental contributions to
Crystals, Noncrystals, and Quasicrystals (CRC Press, 2016). He has authored fast solutions of integral equations using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) with
or coauthored more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have applications to scattering, antennas, and interconnect structures in a homoge-
been cited by more than 31 000 times (H-factor 87). He founded the area neous and layered medium. He is also bestowed with the 2019 Distinguished
of information metamaterials. His research interests include computational Alumni Award from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
electromagnetics and metamaterials. University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

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