Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Enabled Channel Signature Modulation

Abstract: This work proposes RIS-enabled channel signature modulation (RIS-CSM), a lightweight index modulation scheme for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). An N-element RIS is partitioned into disjoint groups, each employing predetermined binary reflection patterns to generate distinct channel signatures at an $n_R$-antenna receiver, without RIS-side beamforming. Information is embedded in the indices of these signatures, enabling simple channel estimation and scalable spectral efficiency. A closed-form upper bound on error probability and capacity analysis are derived, revealing diversity order $n_R$ and coding gain proportional to N. Simulation results under Rayleigh fading validate the theoretical analysis. Moreover, simulations indicate that spatial correlation among RIS elements can improve system performance at low spectral efficiency.