Data Exchange Protocol for Weak Links with Hybrid-RIS in Wireless Networks

In an indoor wireless network environment com-posed of Internet of Things (loT) devices, there can be devices that transmit data in a weak link due to obstacles and low transmission power. To solve the problem without additional energy consumption of devices, a new Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required for receiving data from the devices in the weak link. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient MAC protocol that the AP can collect data by using a Hybrid- Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (H - RIS). In the proposed network, the Access Point (AP) can distinguish the packet-level failure of the weak link and control the H - RIS to receive data from the device. Using simulations, we have shown that our proposed method can enhance the performance of the network throughput and energy efficiency of devices.