Sustainable Development Strategies for RIS-Assisted Mobile Networks

The transition toward environmentally sustainable 6G networks requires mitigating the high-power consumption of traditional active base stations and relay nodes currently used to overcome signal path loss. This paper introduces Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) as a paradigm-shifting, inherently passive alternative that alters the wireless propagation environment without requiring power-intensive radio frequency (RF) chains. Rather than focusing solely on spectral efficiency, this research aims to maximize Energy Efficiency (EE) to achieve a critical equilibrium between network performance and power consumption. MATLAB-based analytical models demonstrate that received signal power scales quadratically with the number of reflecting elements via constructive interference. Furthermore, systematic evaluations reveal that a 64-element RIS panel imposes a negligible hardware load consuming merely 0.005 Watts per element, offering a highly sustainable alternative to the massive transmit power (up to 40 dBm) frequently required by unassisted networks in noisy environments. By defining a mathematical “Green Operating Point,” this study demonstrates that integrating lightweight RIS panels significantly enhances Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and data rates, steering next-generation telecommunications toward highly sustainable, low-power operations.