On the Performance of RIS-Assisted Space Shift Keying: Ideal and Non-Ideal Transceivers

In this study, we present a unifying framework for future reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted space shift keying (SSK) systems; we additionally propose two novel transmission schemes. The key strategies surrounding this concept, namely power-sensing RIS-SSK and partitioned RIS-SSK, grant knowledge of the activated transmitter (Tx) antenna index at the RIS, which, when using SSK, allows us to adjust the reflection phases. The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated in terms of the theoretical average bit error rate (ABER), and the effect of non-ideal transceivers. The performance is then compared to that of a reference RIS-SSK scheme, and a complexity analysis is provided. The obtained results, verified by extensive computer simulations, demonstrate that the partitioned and power-sensing RIS-SSK schemes achieve a higher ABER than the reference one. Moreover, hardware impairments clearly have a critically degrading impact on the system performance for all schemes, and should be carefully taken into account in future communication systems.