Wireless on Walls: Revolutionizing the future of health care

Following the standardization and deployment of the 5G network, researchers have shifted their focus to beyond 5G (B5G) communication. Existing technologies have brought forth a plethora of applications that could not have been imagined in the past years. B5G will enable us to rethink the capability it will offer in various sectors, including agriculture, search and rescue, and, more specifically, in the delivery of health-care services. Unobtrusive and noninvasive measurements using radio-frequency (RF) sensing, monitoring, and the control of wearable medical devices are the areas that would potentially benefit from B5G. Applications such as RF sensing, device charging, and remote patient monitoring will be a key challenge in using millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communication. The mm-waves experience multipath-induced fading, where the rate of attenuation is larger as compared to microwaves. Eventually, mm-wave communication systems would require range extenders and guided surfaces. A proposed solution is the use of intelligent reflective surfaces, which will have the ability to manipulate electromagnetic (EM) signals. These intelligent surfaces mounted and/or coated on walls, also known as intelligent walls (IWs), are planar and active surfaces, which will be a key element in B5G and 6G communication. These intelligent walls, equipped with a machine learning (ML) algorithm and computation power, would have the ability to manipulate EM waves and act as gateways in the heterogeneous network environment. The article presents the application and vision of intelligent walls for next-generation health care in the era of B5G.