A Survey on Reconfigurable and Movable Antennas for Wireless Communications and Sensing

Wenyan Ma; Lipeng Zhu; Yanhua Tan; Beixiong Zheng; Yujie Zhang; Yuchen Zhang; Keke Ying; Zhen Gao; He Sun; Xiaodan Shao; Zhenyu Xiao; Dusit Niyato; Rui Zhang

doi:10.1109/COMST.2026.3663021

A Survey on Reconfigurable and Movable Antennas for Wireless Communications and Sensing

Wenyan Ma
, Lipeng Zhu^*
, Yanhua Tan
, Beixiong Zheng
, Yujie Zhang
, Yuchen Zhang
, Keke Ying
, Zhen Gao
, He Sun
, Xiaodan Shao
, Zhenyu Xiao
, Dusit Niyato
, Rui Zhang^*

^*此作品的通讯作者

National University of Singapore
Beijing Institute of Technology
South China University of Technology
Nanyang Technological University
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Advanced Technology Research Institute (Jinan)
ATM
Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Bejing Institute of Technology
Beihang University
University of Waterloo

科研成果: 期刊稿件 › 文献综述 › 同行评审

7 引用（Scopus）

摘要

Reconfigurable antennas (RAs) and movable antennas (MAs) have been recognized as promising technologies to enhance the performance of wireless communication and sensing systems by introducing additional degrees of freedom (DoFs) in tuning antenna radiation and/or placement. This paradigm shift from conventional non-reconfigurable/movable antennas offers tremendous new opportunities for realizing multi-functional, more adaptive, and efficient next-generation wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on the fundamentals, architectures, and applications of these two emerging antenna technologies. First, we provide a chronological overview of the parallel historical development of both RA and MA technologies. Next, we review and classify the state-of-the-art hardware architectures for implementing RAs and MAs, followed by a detailed comparison of their distinct mechanisms, performance metrics, and functionalities. Subsequently, we focus on various applications of RAs and MAs in wireless communication systems, analyzing their respective performance advantages and key design considerations such as mode selection, movement optimization, and channel acquisition. We also explore the significant roles of RAs and MAs in advancing wireless sensing and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). Furthermore, we present numerical performance comparisons to illustrate the distinct characteristics and complementary advantages of RA and MA systems. Finally, we outline key challenges and identify promising future research directions to inspire further innovations in this burgeoning field.

源语言	英语
页（从-至）	4842-4882
页数	41
期刊	IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials
卷	28
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2026.3663021
出版状态	已出版 - 2026
已对外发布	是

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10.1109/COMST.2026.3663021

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title = "A Survey on Reconfigurable and Movable Antennas for Wireless Communications and Sensing",

abstract = "Reconfigurable antennas (RAs) and movable antennas (MAs) have been recognized as promising technologies to enhance the performance of wireless communication and sensing systems by introducing additional degrees of freedom (DoFs) in tuning antenna radiation and/or placement. This paradigm shift from conventional non-reconfigurable/movable antennas offers tremendous new opportunities for realizing multi-functional, more adaptive, and efficient next-generation wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on the fundamentals, architectures, and applications of these two emerging antenna technologies. First, we provide a chronological overview of the parallel historical development of both RA and MA technologies. Next, we review and classify the state-of-the-art hardware architectures for implementing RAs and MAs, followed by a detailed comparison of their distinct mechanisms, performance metrics, and functionalities. Subsequently, we focus on various applications of RAs and MAs in wireless communication systems, analyzing their respective performance advantages and key design considerations such as mode selection, movement optimization, and channel acquisition. We also explore the significant roles of RAs and MAs in advancing wireless sensing and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). Furthermore, we present numerical performance comparisons to illustrate the distinct characteristics and complementary advantages of RA and MA systems. Finally, we outline key challenges and identify promising future research directions to inspire further innovations in this burgeoning field.",

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author = "Wenyan Ma and Lipeng Zhu and Yanhua Tan and Beixiong Zheng and Yujie Zhang and Yuchen Zhang and Keke Ying and Zhen Gao and He Sun and Xiaodan Shao and Zhenyu Xiao and Dusit Niyato and Rui Zhang",

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AU - Ma, Wenyan

AU - Zhu, Lipeng

AU - Tan, Yanhua

AU - Zheng, Beixiong

AU - Zhang, Yujie

AU - Zhang, Yuchen

AU - Ying, Keke

AU - Gao, Zhen

AU - Sun, He

AU - Shao, Xiaodan

AU - Xiao, Zhenyu

AU - Niyato, Dusit

AU - Zhang, Rui

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AB - Reconfigurable antennas (RAs) and movable antennas (MAs) have been recognized as promising technologies to enhance the performance of wireless communication and sensing systems by introducing additional degrees of freedom (DoFs) in tuning antenna radiation and/or placement. This paradigm shift from conventional non-reconfigurable/movable antennas offers tremendous new opportunities for realizing multi-functional, more adaptive, and efficient next-generation wireless networks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on the fundamentals, architectures, and applications of these two emerging antenna technologies. First, we provide a chronological overview of the parallel historical development of both RA and MA technologies. Next, we review and classify the state-of-the-art hardware architectures for implementing RAs and MAs, followed by a detailed comparison of their distinct mechanisms, performance metrics, and functionalities. Subsequently, we focus on various applications of RAs and MAs in wireless communication systems, analyzing their respective performance advantages and key design considerations such as mode selection, movement optimization, and channel acquisition. We also explore the significant roles of RAs and MAs in advancing wireless sensing and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). Furthermore, we present numerical performance comparisons to illustrate the distinct characteristics and complementary advantages of RA and MA systems. Finally, we outline key challenges and identify promising future research directions to inspire further innovations in this burgeoning field.

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KW - hardware architecture

KW - integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)

KW - movable antenna (MA)

KW - wireless communication

KW - wireless sensing

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EP - 4882

JO - IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials

JF - IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials

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A Survey on Reconfigurable and Movable Antennas for Wireless Communications and Sensing

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